Comcast Launches 'English ON DEMAND' Service on Digital Cable

Comcast Launches 'English ON DEMAND' Service on Digital Cable

State, Local and Nonprofit Officials Gather in Lynn for Kick-Off of Free Video Tutorials Allowing Non-English Speakers to Develop Basic Proficiency at Home

LYNN, Mass., Sept. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Comcast, New England's leading provider of cable, entertainment and communications products and services, today announced that it is piloting English as a Second Language (ESL) courses on its signature video-on-demand service throughout New England. The company formally introduced its groundbreaking "English ON DEMAND" service to the public at a community event at Lynn City Hall this morning.

Available to all Comcast Digital Cable customers in New England, the company's ON DEMAND service already offers 9,300 programs every month that Comcast customers can watch whenever they want. Like 95 percent of those ON DEMAND programs, Comcast's new "English ON DEMAND" courses are free.

The "English ON DEMAND" pilot program, designed in partnership with Operation Bootstrap in Lynn, consists of four hours of instructional courses from leading ESL video programmer English For You. The courses teach basic English language skills to non-English speakers, covering important topics like job and career advancement, managing family life, using information services, civic participation and other subjects.

"We're very excited about this opportunity to turn what began as a conversation with our community partners in Lynn into a tool that can help families and communities all over New England," said Paul D'Arcangelo, Vice President of Comcast's Metro Boston Region. "We know that our customers lead busy lives, and that there are not enough classroom-based ESL courses to meet the growing need. And, we know from the incredible popularity of our international programming that we have a very diverse customer base, so we anticipate that this pilot will be a success and that these courses will become a standard part of our ON DEMAND offering in New England."

Don Edwards, Executive Director of Operation Bootstrap in Lynn, added, "This experiment holds great promise to empower individuals to increase literacy and life skills. When Comcast came to us offering to help us out in Lynn, we were really excited. Now that this has grown into a pilot for all of New England, we are overjoyed. This is going to have a huge impact on people who want to pursue the American dream but lack the basic language skills to get there. I can't thank Comcast enough for having this idea and for making it happen."

English ON DEMAND is available to anyone in New England with a Digital Cable box just by tuning into Channel 1 or selecting the ON DEMAND button on their remote. The English For You tutorials can be found under the "Learn English" tab in the "Get Local" category.

Through financial support for community programs, employee volunteering, donations of cable television and high-speed Internet services to schools, libraries and Boys & Girls Clubs and other initiatives, Comcast reaches out to cities and towns all over New England every year. In 2006, the company contributed nearly $6.3 million to schools, libraries, non-profits and other charitable organizations across New England in 2006. More information about Comcast's community involvement can be found at www.comcast.com/community.

About Comcast Corporation

Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) (NASDAQ:CMCSK) (http://www.comcast.com/) is the nation's leading provider of cable, entertainment and communications products and services. With 24.1 million cable customers, 12.4 million high-speed Internet customers, and 3.5 million voice customers, Comcast is principally involved in the development, management and operation of broadband cable systems and in the delivery of programming content.

Comcast's content networks and investments include E! Entertainment Television, Style Network, The Golf Channel, VERSUS, G4, AZN Television, PBS KIDS Sprout, TV One, Comcast SportsNet and Comcast Interactive Media, which develops and operates Comcast's Internet business. Comcast also has a majority ownership in Comcast-Spectacor, whose major holdings include the Philadelphia Flyers NHL hockey team, the Philadelphia 76ers NBA basketball team and two large multipurpose arenas in Philadelphia.

Comcast's New England regions serve 2.6 million customers in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, Connecticut and New York and employ nearly 7,000 individuals.

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Source: Comcast

CONTACT: Jim Hughes, +1-617-562-4340, jim_hughes@cable.comcast.com or
Marc Goodman, +1-617-562-4305, marc_goodman@cable.comcast.com, both of
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Web site: http://www.comcast.com/

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Profile: International Entertainment