"A humble suggestion to executives who feel compelled to comment on current events: Don't treat it like promotional fodder. During Comcast's Q4 earnings call on Thursday, Co-CEO Brian Roberts ended his opening remarks by vaguely alluding to the recent deaths and abductions of Minneapolis residents by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers - and then segued that sentiment into a plug for NBC's upcoming Winter Olympics coverage."
"This year, NBCUniversal will deliver roughly 40% of the industry's major live events, according to Co-CEO Mike Cavanagh. This includes the Winter Olympics in Milan (where Italian politicians are currently outraged over plans to include ICE agents as security forces), the Super Bowl (where ICE will likely also be deployed to conduct immigrant operations), the NBA All-Star Game (featuring many players who've publicly spoken out against ICE) and the World Cup (which is already facing growing calls for boycotts of US-hosted matches)."
During a Q4 earnings call, a company statement linked condolences for recent ICE-related deaths and abductions to promotion of upcoming Olympic coverage. Sports programming represents a major growth area for the company and accounts for a large share of major live-event inventory. Political tensions over ICE involvement and related immigration actions could complicate coverage of events such as the Winter Olympics, Super Bowl, NBA All-Star Game, and the World Cup. Advertiser commitments are largely pre-sold, reducing immediate commercial risk, but unanticipated consumer backlash can disrupt plans, as seen in prior media controversies affecting affiliates and subscribers.
#corporate-communications #comcastnbcuniversal #sports-broadcasting #immigration-enforcement-ice #consumer-backlash
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