Following a field reorg, Comcast is down to three divisions as the MSO eliminates its East Division and creates a new Central Division

Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor

November 18, 2010

2 Min Read
Comcast Trims Another Division

Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) confirmed that it's reorganizing its field operations by consolidating down from four to three divisions.

The MSO's East Division is being dissolved and being folded into Comcast's Northeast Division, which, as a result, will pick up the operator's systems serving the Washington, D.C., area (its "Beltway" region); the "Freedom" region, which includes Philadelphia and southern New Jersey; and its "Keystone" region, which includes Pittsburgh.

Among other changes resulting from the move, the newly named Central Division will absorb the MSO's systems in Chicago, Indianapolis, Detroit, and other systems in Michigan. The company's West Division will add Houston.

On the executive front, William Connors, currently the president of the Eastern Division (which is going away), is taking control of the new Central Division, which will be based out of Atlanta. John Ridall, currently the president of the Southern Division (being relabeled as the Central Division), is retiring after 11 years with Comcast.

When all the dust settles, Comcast, which announced the changes internally on Thursday, will be down to three operating divisions: Northeast, Central, and West. Kevin Casey and Steve White will continue to serve as presidents of the Northeast and West divisions, respectively.

Comcast declined to comment on how the field reorg would further impact personnel or if it would result in any layoffs.

The elimination of the East Division follows other recent moves by major MSOs as they look to streamline and further consolidate operations into fewer geographical zones that, they hope, will result in accelerated deployments of new services.

About two years ago, Comcast got rid of the Midwest Division and divvied up its Chicago, Indianapolis, Detroit, and Twin Cities systems among some of the remaining divisions.

More recently, Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC) shuttered its National Division. (See Time Warner Cable to Shut Down Nat'l Division .)

— Jeff Baumgartner, Site Editor, Light Reading Cable

About the Author(s)

Jeff Baumgartner

Senior Editor, Light Reading

Jeff Baumgartner is a Senior Editor for Light Reading and is responsible for the day-to-day news coverage and analysis of the cable and video sectors. Follow him on X and LinkedIn.

Baumgartner also served as Site Editor for Light Reading Cable from 2007-2013. In between his two stints at Light Reading, he led tech coverage for Multichannel News and was a regular contributor to Broadcasting + Cable. Baumgartner was named to the 2018 class of the Cable TV Pioneers.

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