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Comcast Rolls Back Into South Florida

Cable World, March 10, 2003

Byline: MAVIS SCANLON

Before Comcast could impress its new customers in south Florida, it needed to wow its employees, most of whom until recently worked under the AT&T Broadband banner.

To that end, in late February Comcast hosted what one division manager called the "internal unveiling" of the newly named south Florida system to its employees. In essence it was a splendid party at the fabled Westin Diplomat Resort and Spa in Hollywood.

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The nearly 3,000 attendees - including spouses, families and significant others - were invited to play a version of Family Feud (courtesy of the Game Show Network), check out an alligator and other wild animals (courtesy of Animal Planet, partially owned by Comcast) and participate in a variety of games (courtesy of Comcast's sports programming partners). Groups of employees from Vero Beach and Fort Pierce, the northernmost parts of Comcast's south Florida division, traveled two hours by bus to the recently rebuilt, art deco Diplomat, which in its 1960s heyday was a magnet for movie stars, gangsters and gamblers. Employees came from as far away as Key West - more than 100 miles southwest of Miami - for the meet-and-greet event.

"The intent was to signify our commitment to the market and to the employees," says Tom Autry, area VP/GM for Miami-Dade and the Florida Keys. Comcast wanted to "show its commitment from a company standpoint and to set the tone for how we're going to be moving forward in communities in south Florida," he adds. "We believe getting employees on board is critical and the first step in being successful in any market."

Comcast threw the event in part to get employees excited about the latest in a long line of the area's cable systems' corporate owners and fired up for what promises to be a very intense couple of years as the MSO undertakes an aggressive upgrade.

For some of the system's more than 1,800 employees in south Florida, the bash was a homecoming - Comcast owned systems throughout Broward County before swapping them to AT&T Broadband in December 2000. To former AT&T Broadband and TCI employees, it was a fresh start with the largest MSO in the country.

The night also included a tribute to former AT&T broadband cable technician Felix Singletary, who, along with five other passers-by, on Feb. 3 saved an elderly woman from drowning in a Pompano Beach canal near her home.

Of course, it hasn't all been fun and games and toasts. Comcast is dead serious about meeting its upgrade schedule for all the systems it acquired from AT&T within two years. Comcast budgeted about $200 million for its south Florida upgrade, which Craig Snedeker, area VP/GM of Broward County and the area known as the Treasure Coast, says is ahead of schedule in many areas.

Snedeker, who followed his father, Wally Snedeker, a cable pioneer, into the business, has in his 20 years in the industry become known for his expertise in overseeing upgrades and rebuilds. All of his career stops have been upgrades and rebuilds, he says. "We have our foot on the accelerator" in Broward County, which is about 30% upgraded, he says. The Fort Lauderdale area will be completed well ahead of schedule, he adds.

South Florida is one of Comcast's largest regions, with about 800,000 customers. The division stretches from Vero Beach, far north of Miami, to Key West, although both Adelphia and Charter serve chunks of Florida's eastern coast. Snedeker's first task is to get the entire system working on the same architecture; south Florida's series of operators left Comcast a number of varying architectures to deal with, with different towns in varying stages of completion.

In the weeks leading up to the employee party, Comcast senior management in south Florida holed up for daylong meetings, prepping for the changeover to the Comcast name, which became official last week. Comcast's branding campaign is not likely to have been missed by south Florida residents, who are either beating the humidity and storms in air-conditioned living rooms or enjoying the spells of sunshine at the beach. In addition to its commercials featuring Lance Armstrong and aerial banners, Comcast commissioned local artist Henry Johnson to paint a mural that has been rolling around town. The mural's beach scene features the message, "We're ready to work for you." Local franchising authorities and media were presented with cakes bearing the same message.

It may take a while to get the message across that the cable company itself, not just the name, is different.

"Changing the brand is one thing," says Filemon Lopez, who was recruited from running Comcast's training center, Comcast University, to be GM of the south Florida division. Lopez first worked for Comcast in Florida in 1990 and still has family there. "We have to work hard to win the hearts and minds of our customers, and it will not happen overnight."

Under Lopez's direction, plans are underway for training customer care and technical staff and developing leadership. Senior managers have already gone through a "Connecting with Comcast" program, which all employees will eventually take. A "handful" of managers have been brought on from other parts of Comcast, Lopez says.

Technology Industry

Comcast Rolls Back Into South Florida

Cable World, March 10, 2003

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