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• Case | HBS Case Collection | April 2015 (Revised June 2020)

  Comcast Corporation (A)

  Sunil Gupta, Henry McGee, Felix Oberholzer-Gee and Margaret L. Rodriguez

  In March 2015, the U.S. television industry received a major wake-up call. HBO, a premium cable channel with over 30 million subscribers, had announced it would begin offering a standalone streaming service. This new service would allow customers to bypass the cable companies and get direct access to HBO's programming online. The announcement was followed closely by Brian Roberts, chief executive of the Comcast Corporation. Comcast was America's largest cable and internet service provider, having built a profitable business bundling television content and delivering it via cable networks to more than 20 million households. Broadcast and cable television was a $173 billion industry in the U.S., but the rise of on-demand and streaming services meant viewers had more options than ever before. What did developments such as HBO's new service mean for the future of Comcast, and for the industry overall?

  Keywords: cable television; HBO; industry evolution; Television Entertainment; Disruption; Business Model; Competitive Strategy; Media and Broadcasting Industry;

  Citation:

  Gupta, Sunil, Henry McGee, Felix Oberholzer-Gee, and Margaret L. Rodriguez. "Comcast Corporation (A)." Harvard Business School Case 715-457, April 2015. (Revised June 2020.)  View Details

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• Supplement | HBS Case Collection | June 2020

  Comcast Corporation (B)

  Sunil Gupta, Henry McGee and Felix Oberholzer-Gee

  The (B) case, set in the summer of 2020, highlights the concern of Comcast CEO Brian Roberts, as the streaming war intensifies. In a short period of time several new streaming services, such as Disney+, Apple TV+, Quibi, and HBO Max were launched and cable subscription declined significantly. This not only poses a challenge to Comcast but many streaming services are also likely to fail as consumers have more choices.

  Keywords: cable television; industry evolution; Television Entertainment; Disruption; Business Model; Competitive Strategy; Media and Broadcasting Industry;

  Citation:

  Gupta, Sunil, Henry McGee, and Felix Oberholzer-Gee. "Comcast Corporation (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 720-481, June 2020.  View Details

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | February 2019

  Zhejiang Geely Holding Group: Acquisition of Volvo Cars

  Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Willy Shih and Nancy Dai

  Zhejiang Geely Holding Company's acquisition of Volvo cars was widely viewed with skepticism because of the poor track record of cross-border auto industry acquisitions. This case looks at the acquisition and post-acquisition integration from the point of view of Chinese managers at Geely. A companion case, HBS No. 613-042, “Volvo Cars: Acquisition by Geely” looks at the acquisition from the point of view of Swedish managers at Volvo.

  Keywords: merger integration; organization culture; Organization Behavior; organizational alignment; Mergers and Acquisitions; Integration; Alignment; Organizational Culture; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Auto Industry; China; Sweden;

  Citation:

  Oberholzer-Gee, Felix, Willy Shih, and Nancy Dai. "Zhejiang Geely Holding Group: Acquisition of Volvo Cars." Harvard Business School Case 619-041, February 2019.  View Details

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