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Comcast Takes Full Ownership Of NECN

The management of New England Cable News will change as Comcast Corp. takes over sole ownership of the regional cable television news station. NECN was started in 1992 as a joint venture between Comcast's predecessor and the Hearst Corp. Hearst is selling its 50 percent stake.

Bill Bridgen, the general manager of Comcast SportsNet New England, replaces Charlie Kravetz as general manager of NECN. Kravetz has been with NECN from the beginning, starting out as news director for the 24-hour news station that now has more than three million subscribers.

Kravetz praised his NECN colleagues in a statement. "These extraordinary people will now join with Comcast to write the next chapter in the story of NECN," he said. "I have great faith that the future with Comcast will be bright. I wish all my colleagues at NECN, the many partners with whom we have worked so hard, and Comcast, great success and good fortune in the coming years.”

Comcast says sole ownership will add a respected and award-winning news station to its stable of regional programming, which is predominantly sports and entertainment. There are no layoffs or major changes as part of this announcement. However, some observers wonder how the news product will change under the new management.

This program aired on June 18, 2009. The audio for this program is not available.

Headshot of Curt Nickisch

Curt Nickisch Business & Technology Reporter
Curt Nickisch was formerly WBUR's business and technology reporter.

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