• by Wayne Friedman , March 2, 2010

SAN FRANCISCO -- Comcast won't make the same mistakes with NBC that AOL made with Time Warner.

"We are big believers that companies should work together," says Steve Burke, COO of Comcast Corp. and president of Comcast Cable Communications, in speaking at the 4As media conference event.

He said he understood that AOL talked about synergy at the outset of the Time Warner deal in 2000 -- put together for $200 billion in stock and debt -- but did not follow through. The deal went on to become one of the biggest financial merger disasters ever, according to many industry executives.

Burke isn't planning to repeat history.

He has met with the top 20 senior NBC Universal executives many times -- and will continue to, since the deal is expected to take another nine months to complete. He says: "We have 100,000 employees; they have 30,000. The immediate challenge is to get to know people."

Burke reiterated Comcast's pledge that NBC would not become a cable network. "That is a sort of an idea that sounds good," says Burke. "But that is unthinkable. The real key for a network is the relationship it has with its TV stations."

Burke added that there continues to be real symmetry between what Comcast does with its electronic businesses, such as its video-on-demand services, and the NBC Universal content.

Recently meeting with the Universal Studios executives, he said the theatrical movie business is actually healthy. But it's the aftermarket that's in trouble, such as the alarming declines in DVD revenue. That's where Comcast comes in.

For the cable industry-wide Canoe Venture's addressable technology effort, Burke says there is no disagreement among big cable system partners when it comes to the overall vision.

The problem is one of technology and deploying the same technology -- EBIF, enhanced TV binary interchange format -- in a majority of cable consumer set-top boxes. Comcast now uses the more consumer-friendly term "select" television technology.

"The challenge is the infrastructure," he says. "We are right on the cusp in getting 'select' or the EBIF [into set-top boxes]. That plumbing is taking time."

Although the recession has caused many economic trends to go south, Burke is bolstered by the fact that one of TV's main revenue generators has rebounded. "We can't find a lot of signs that things have improved -- except for advertising. It feels like it's getting better."

Along those lines, Burke says -- as Comcast executives have said in the past: "We are committed to the broadcast model. I know that might seem a little contrary. With the right programming, you can have tremendous results." As evidence, look at the Olympics ratings, he says.

As cable, broadcast, and digital assets are merged, cross-platform media selling may be a slow go. Burke says this can be a very tough sell. "It's hard to deliver something there of value."