Comcast's NBC Talks Cap Its Decades-long Rise

DEBORAH YAO

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Ralph Roberts knew he was onto something big when people ran after his cable TV trucks in Tupelo, Miss., asking for a visit to their homes.

It was 1963. Roberts had been looking for new ventures after selling his belt-and-suspenders company. He bought American Cable Systems for $500,000 — an opportunity that had been mentioned to him by a business acquaintance he came across while strolling down a Philadelphia street.

American Cable Systems, which served 1,200 subscribers, was one of many independent companies arising at the dawn of the cable TV industry: It strung up cable to carry television broadcasts to homes that couldn't get clear reception over the free airwaves.

"It just looked to me like a wonderful business. Without doing too much, you just put up an antenna, ran some cables and people paid you $5 a month ... to bring in TV stations," he said in a corporate video produced this year. "It's marvelous because people love TV, and more is better."

Today the descendant of that small cable system — Comcast Corp. — still believes people want more TV. And Comcast might be about to get lots of it.