Hate Comcast? Brian Roberts Has a Theory
Brian Roberts, Comcast CEO.
Good morning, Philadelphia. Here’s what you need to know today.
Brian Roberts has a theory about why people hate Comcast — even though so many use its products.
Simply put: People are getting used to getting content for free — news websites, streaming music, and more — and Comcast, well, charges. “Google’s free. Facebook is free,” the Comcast CEO said in a live interview with Henry Blodget at last weekend’s Ignition conference. “We charge, and we collect for every piece of content rights. Every movie star. Every athlete. Every possible piece of content we pay.” And that, he suggested, magnifies the mistakes the company does make. While the company is pouring resources into creating a better customer service experience, Roberts says, that may not fix the issue. “If you drop a channel, you’re incredibly unpopular, and if you pass along a rate increase, you’re incredibly unpopular.”
Kathryn Knott’s defense began Monday in her gay-bashing trial — and defense witnesses say she didn’t hit anyone.
Four prosecution witnesses said they saw Knott punch or slap one of the victims in the 2014 case, Philly Mag’s Dan McQuade reports, On Monday, however: “All four of the defense witnesses today testified they did not see Knott hit anyone. In contrast to testimony last week, none of them said they heard any gay slurs.” One witness, Taylor Peltzer, was asked why she didn’t call 911 the night of the fight. “I didn’t call 911,” Peltzer said. “I was in shock. I was scared.” Knott’s trial continues today.
You might as well stop dreaming of a white Christmas — Glenn “Hurricane” Schwartz says it could be one of the warmest on record.
The NBC10 meteorologist says that Philadelphia is averaging about 11 degrees above normal for the month of December — the warmest December ever. “If anything, it looks more extreme late next week,” Schwartz writes. “I wouldn’t be surprised to see more record warmth. The Philadelphia records are 64 for Dec. 24th and 68 for Christmas Day.” You might want to turn the TV to one of those video Yule logs instead of actually throwing one on the fire.
New Jersey’s black mayors are calling for a boycott of Donald Trump’s properties.
They’re not very happy with his call to ban Muslims from entering the country, NewsWorks reports. The mayors “feel that Mr. Trump went beyond the pale, and we think it’s very dangerous what he’s doing,” Logan Township Mayor Frank Minor told the radio station. “He’s appealing to the worst element of our society.” Minor said that patronizing Trump facilities is the equivalent to making a contribution to Trump’s campaign.
The Sixers actually led the Bulls at halftime of Monday night’s game — but they still ended up losing, 115-96.
Rookie Jahlil Okafor led the Sixers with 22 points, a nice debut as a rookie playing for the first time in his hometown. But AP reports the loss left the team winless on the road so far this season. The difference in the game? The Bulls went on a 34-12 run in the third quarter. “We had had a good second period and you knew they were going to come out of the locker room like they did,” Coach Brett Brown said. “The young guys need to learn how to get through that. It’s a 48-minute game.”
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