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Going to work this morning, NBC Universal employees found all the company’s old signs replaced overnight with new ones. They feature the company’s new logo and new name, which is the same as the old one sans a space between the two words, NBCUniversal. (The TV networks, NBC, CNBC and MSNBC are not getting a logo overhaul, keeping the peacock intact.) Along with the new signage and new Intranet system, employees were greeted by gift boxes on their desks. The Welcome memo below explains the contents of each box, which included beautifully crafted books about the history of the merging companies, a stocks certificate for 25 Comcast shares and free passes to the Universal Theme Parks:
Dear Colleague:
Today marks the birth of the new NBCUniversal. Together, Comcast and NBCUniversal are poised to become the greatest media company in the world, delivering quality content to a global audience on every conceivable platform.
We are incredibly excited about this opportunity. We’re humbled, too, since we are keenly aware that NBC and Universal both have tremendous legacies, reaching back nearly a century.
Although only half as old, Comcast also has a proud history, having grown from a single system cable operator to the largest video and residential Internet service provider in the country.
As we embark on this adventure together, it seems like a good time to reflect on how we got here. That’s why we put this book together. We hope you enjoy it and will be proud to be a part of what we’ve become.
The book is just one element of a gift package marking this occasion. Included is a certificate entitling you to 25 shares of stock in Comcast Corporation. Our hope is that you share ownership of this company and what we accomplish together.
You’ll also find a free pass for you and your family to one of the Universal theme parks – because we want you to get to know all our businesses, and have some fun, too.
And we’ve included what we’re calling “The Big Idea Book.” We’re a company founded on and driven by big ideas, and this gives you a place to record your own.
Last but not least, you’ll see a copy of the NBCUniversal Credo. This is, quite literally, what we believe. We hope you’ll agree, and come to see these as not just words but the distillation of a company culture that defines who we are, what we do, and how we do it.NBCUniversal and Comcast are remarkable companies.
Together, we will be even better.
Brian L. Roberts, Chairman and CEO, Comcast CorporationSteve Burke, CEO, NBC Universal
TV Editor Nellie Andreeva - tip her here.
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Soon to be followed by pink slips.
So Brian, I am guessing the “Together, we will be even better” is a much smaller “together” than the current NBCUniversal family… with Comcast moving into the neighborhood.
Just an FYI not all employees got these perks. Many employees that have been with USH for over 20 years did not receive these shares because they didn’t meet an amount of shifts they had to work. New employees to the company received shares. This is a total slap in the face to those that have shown committment to this company and all the changes that Universal has been through. It is unfair to them and I think that if they can’t give to all then they should have kept them. There are a lot more front line employees that deserve this. They are the ones that keep the guests coming back for more. Not a good start Comcast. Not a good Start.
I wasnt able to get one eather.
No Peacock?
If Comcast bought McDonald’s they would scrap the Golden Arches on the first day.
Great way to ‘honor’ the historical legacy, by dropping both the peacock and the globe.
What a ffracken joke. Did Roberts do it in Word on his PC? Disgusting.
Its at the corporate level thatthe logo is being used. The networks will still use the Peacock
What a joke. Did they do is in Word on their PC? Why ruin a perfectly good and worldwide recognized corporate identity?
Frankly, it sounds classier than a great deal of industry mergers, where the only thing on the employeses find desks (if the desks are still there; if they let you back in the building) IS a pink slip.
Let’s for one day lose the cyni….
Oh, what was I thinking? This site is fueled on schadenfreude.
WOOOOO Great!!! While on my 15 minute and hour lunch break I can go ride all the amusement park rides!!!! Then I can throw-up and then go home for the rest of the day.
Beware of mega multi-billion dollar studios bearing gifts…
NBCUniversal under Comcast will do a lot better than what General Electric, Vivendi, Seagrams and Matshuista did with it. But it will never again enjoy the iconic status that it had under MCA and Lew Wasserman. Not that MCA was known for being all that benevolent, but Comcast will proove to be even more ruthless and powerful!
Why would NBCU employees be thrilled to have free passes to go
someplace they have work at five days a week?
When I heard the employee town hall today I was surprised about several things:
-The stock handout wasn’t expected but definitely a nice gesture by the new management.
-Steve Burke’s stiffness during the entire presentation including when Brian Williams (and Seth Myers) tried to have light-hearted moments.
-Comcast CEO Brian Roberts defending the elimination of the peacock on the NBCU logo. He said it looked “cluttered” so they wanted just the name NBCUniversal. I knew it would be eliminated (and I wrote so on Deadline last week when I heard about it) but I was floored when he said it was due to “clutter.”
-Not only did the Comcasters get rid of the globe and peacock today, but they took ID badges from all employees and issued new ones with the new, plain NBCUniversal look. The fact the deal doesn’t even close until later this week tells me they couldn’t want to stamp their boring culture on the new company.
-During the town hall there were remotes from various company locations around the globe, including Universal City. Universal CEO Ron Meyer went out of his way to trash previous owners (he didn’t mention GE) but said the new group was different. As I recall, he also used a few salty words in the description. It was probably a good thing Ron’s microphone wasn’t operating at 100% since the audio was muffled…and maybe for a good reason. Ron came off as the bull in the china shop. Everyone else was polished and keeping to script.
-Lastly, I was surprised at how cold the entire Comcast management team looked. Even grandpa Ralph Roberts who spoke briefly from New York looked like Darth Vader. I know Comcast didn’t buy NBC Universal to lose money so they have the right to take steps to cut costs. But if they wanted to save costs, why recreate thousands of ID badges and print thousands of history books about the legacy of the combined companies. NBCU’s days of being the “Green Company” are clearly over!
Because when ge bought universal they took away their employees free access to the theme parks. Looks like comcast is keeping up that tradition.
Thank God I don’t work at this Gulag! Good luck NBCUniversal employees, you’re gonna need it!
NBCU was out of ideas in a group known the world over for their great revolutionary ideas. So GE was eager to sell and Comcast eager to buy. Two great companies in business together. The goverment approved the deal and, as usual, not eveybody will be happy. There will be winners and losers to the merger. The gift package is just a hint of things to come.
Those stock options that were supposedly handed out on Day One of the merger aren’t what any of the employees were expecting. We just got the details recently and in true Comcast fashion we were mislead. Comcast has placed conditions on receiving these shares. First off an employee must stay with the company for 5 years to get these shares. Next, they won’t get the shares but rather whatever the shares are worth at the end of the 5 years. And on top of that, they won’t get the full value of 25 shares, but rather the value of 25 shares minus the employees tax withholding rate (roughly one third). So anyone hoping to cash in on their shares of Comcast stock to help their current financial situation has another thing coming. I suspect Comcast did this to entice people to stay with the company since they are known for being the WORST COMPANY in America. What a screwy deal!