• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, March 2, 2010

Television programming and distribution merger deals don’t have a good track record. So why did Comcast Corp invest in NBC?

“You only really get in trouble by doing nothing,” says Steve Burke, chief operating officer, Comcast Corporation and president of Comcast Cable Communications, in an interview at the 4A's media conference. "We live in a time that you have to willing to take risks."

Burke said the criticism that media mergers between distribution and content companies don’t work is wrong. He said when NBC bought Universal six years ago, it gave crucial support for both companies. “They were saved by a successful acquisition.”

For its own business, Burke said, it wasn’t that many years ago Comcast was just analog cable programming service business. But it changed. “Now we have 16 million high speed data customers.”

Now more than ever, Comcast believe the merge of content and distribution works now. “If you do nothing the internet will be a foe,” says Burke.