Disney Mulling Comcast Bid

Comcast, the country's largest cable operator, with about 21 million subscribers, scored a major success last year with the integration of AT&T Broadband. Disney, on the other hand, has recently been engulfed in a high-profile dispute with another cable operator, Comcast rival Cox Communications(COX), over how much it charges for ESPN. While Disney has disputed Cox's claim that it's seeking a 20% increase in the price paid to carry ESPN, Cox has taken the battle public and currently operates a Web site decrying the fees.

Gearing Up

In retrospect, Comcast's daring bid was presaged in December, when it entered a forward sale agreement to unload a huge chunk of Liberty Media(L) shares for close to $900 million. Comcast agreed to sell 75 million to 100 million of the more than 200 million Liberty shares it got in exchange for its ownership stake in QVC.

A handful of media company shares were higher on news of the bid, including Time Warner(TWX), up 20 cents, or 1.2%, to $18; Viacom(VIA.B), up 40 cents, or 1%, to $41.50; and Sony, up 50 cents, or 1.2%, to $41.50.

Comcast boasts among its management ranks a longtime Disney insider, its head of cable television operations, Steve Burke. Before moving to Comcast, Burke was president of ABC Broadcasting, overseeing 10 ABC-owned television stations; the ABC Radio Group, consisting of 27 radio stations and eight radio networks; and Buena Vista Television, the company's domestic syndication arm.

At Disney, Burke helped develop and found Disney Stores, one of Disney's fastest-growing businesses, with more than 680 stores in 11 countries. In 1992, he moved to Euro Disney SA, where, as president and chief operating officer, he helped lead a major restructuring.

"I know Disney's businesses very well," Burke said in a release. "And I am confident that when we put those great brands and programming assets together with our distribution, there will be significant opportunities to produce compelling returns for shareholders."

>To order reprints of this article, click here: Reprints