Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant documents that answer the question.
Query: When was Universal Pictures acquired by Comcast?
On January 18, 2011, the FCC and the United States Department of Justice approved the acquisition.
Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (formerly Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Universal Studios Home Video, MCA/Universal Home Video, MCA Home Video, MCA Videodisc Inc. and MCA Videocassette Inc.) is the home video distribution division of American film studio Universal Pictures, owned by the Universal Filmed Entertainment Group division of NBCUniversal, which is owned by Comcast.
On April 12, the Panel on Takeovers and Mergers ruled that Disney had to acquire all of Sky within 28 days of fully acquiring Fox if the latter's acquisition of Sky is not completed by the time the merger is done, or if Comcast's counter-offer isn't accepted. On April 25, 2018, Comcast made its formal counter-bid for Sky plc, offering £12.50 per-share; Sky subsequently withdrew its recommendation of the Fox bid. On June 5, 2018, Culture Secretary Matt Hancock cleared both 21st Century Fox and Comcast's respective offers to acquire Sky plc. Fox's offer is contingent on the divestiture of Sky News.
On April 14, 2014, Comcast purchased Lions Gate Entertainment and Sony Pictures Entertainment's stakes in Fearnet, acquiring full ownership of the channel. Comcast plans to fold Fearnet into its existing horror- and thriller-focused network Chiller (owned by the company's NBCUniversal Cable unit), although some of Fearnet's programming may be moved to Syfy.
In 2001, Comcast announced it would acquire the assets of the largest cable television operator at the time, AT&T Broadband, for U.S.$44.5 billion. The proposed name for the merged company was "AT&T Comcast", but the companies ultimately decided to keep only the Comcast name. In 2002, Comcast acquired all assets of AT&T Broadband, thus making Comcast the largest cable television company in the United States with over 22 million subscribers. This spurred the start of Comcast Advertising Sales (using AT&T's groundwork) which would later be renamed Comcast Spotlight. As part of this acquisition, Comcast also acquired the National Digital Television Center in Centennial, Colorado as a wholly owned subsidiary, now known as the "Comcast Media Center". In 2003, Comcast became one of the original investors in The Golf Channel. After Excite@Home went bankrupt in October 2001, Comcast took over providing internet directly to consumers in January 2002. 
Comcast was, at the time, the largest cable television provider in the United States. It also owned a number of major cable networks, including E!, Golf Channel, and Versus. In 2004, Comcast attempted a hostile takeover of The Walt Disney Company for $41 billion, which would have made Comcast the world's largest media conglomerate, if approved. The deal fell through, however; Comcast's motivation for the deal was centered around gaining control of ESPN, which a Comcast executive described as "the most important and valuable asset" in Disney's portfolio. The same year, General Electric acquired an 80% stake in Universal Studios from Vivendi, which merged into NBC to form NBCUniversal. By 2009, the company's financial performance had struggled due in part to the poor performance of recent Universal Pictures' productions, and NBC, ranked fourth at the time among the major US broadcast television networks. By contrast, some of its cable networks (such as MSNBC Syfy, and USA Network) were reporting steady gains in viewership. After the failed Disney deal, Comcast focused on its existing networks (along with its Comcast SportsNet regional sports networks), and acquired a stake in the movie studio MGM.[2][3]
This list of theatrical animated feature films consists of animated films released by Universal Pictures, the film division of Comcast through the Universal Filmed Entertainment Group division of its wholly owned subsidiary NBCUniversal.
On September 22, 2018, Comcast outbid 21st Century Fox, by raising its bid for Sky plc to $40 billion, or $22.57 a share. On September 25, 2018, Comcast has bought 30% stake of Sky plc. The next day on September 26, 2018, Fox with the consent of its acquirer sold its 39% stake to Comcast in exchange for $15 billion in cash. In October 2018 Comcast later acquired the rest of the shares of the Sky with the company being dislisted in November. The merger closed on November 7 with the company being dislisted after becoming a wholly owned subsidiary and division of Comcast.
Comcast, the largest cable TV provider in the United States, outbid 21st Century Fox, on 22 September 2018 in an auction for control of Sky UK. On 4 October 2018, Fox sold their stake to Comcast, giving the latter a 76.8% controlling stake. On 12 October 2018, Comcast announced it will compulsorily acquire the rest of Sky after its bid gained acceptance from 95.3% of the broadcaster's shareholders. Afterwards, Comcast acquired the remaining 5% of the shares of Sky.
On April 30, 2007, Comcast purchased a 60% interest in FSN Bay Area, along with a 50% stake in FSN New England, from Rainbow Media for $570 million. Then on December 10, the San Francisco Giants acquired a 30% stake in FSN Bay Area, with News Corporation becoming a minority partner in the network. As a result of Comcast becoming the majority interest holder, the network (after the sale was finalized in February 2008) was integrated into the company's own regional sports network group Comcast SportsNet, rebranding as Comcast SportsNet Bay Area on March 31, 2008. CSN Bay Area became the first Comcast SportsNet-branded network to use a logo style (utilizing Comcast's then-universal corporate logo), based on the logo for SportsNet New York, that was later adopted by all the other CSN regional networks on October 1, 2008. Shortly after the rebranding in April 2008, Fox agreed to sell its interest in CSN Bay Area to Comcast.
Comcast also owns many local channels. Comcast also has a network known as Comcast Television, available exclusively to Comcast and Cablevision subscribers. The channel shows news, sports, and entertainment and places emphasis in Philadelphia and the Baltimore/Washington, D.C. areas, though the channel is also available in New York, Pittsburgh, and Richmond. In August 2004, Comcast started a channel called Comcast Entertainment Television, for Colorado Comcast subscribers, and focusing on life in Colorado. It also carries some National Hockey League and National Basketball Association games when Altitude Sports & Entertainment is carrying the NHL or NBA. In January 2006, CET became the primary channel for Colorado's Emergency Alert System in the Denver Metro Area. In 2006, Comcast helped found the channel SportsNet New York, acquiring a minority stake. The other partners in the project were New York Mets and Time Warner Cable.
United International Pictures is a joint venture of Paramount Pictures (part of Viacom, owned by National Amusements) and Universal Pictures (part of NBCUniversal, owned by Comcast) which distributes some of their films outside the United States and Canada. UIP also had international distribution rights to certain Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and United Artists films when MGM was part of the venture. In 2001, MGM left UIP, and signed a distribution deal with 20th Century Fox's overseas arm.
In February 2011, Comcast acquired a majority stake in NBC Universal, and merged its content operations into the company. As part of the acquisition, Versus and Comcast's other sports channels began to be integrated into the NBC Sports division. Coinciding with the merger, President Jamie Davis was replaced by Comcast Sports Group president Jon Litner. Litner began to oversee the channel, in addition to his other duties following the Comcast takeover.
This is a list of films produced or distributed by Universal Pictures, founded in 1912 as the Universal Film Manufacturing Company. It is the main motion picture production and distribution arm of Universal Studios, a subsidiary of NBCUniversal division of Comcast.
On April 8, 2005, a partnership led by Comcast and Sony Pictures Entertainment finalized a deal to acquire MGM and its affiliate studio, United Artists, and created an additional outlet to carry MGM/UA's material for cable and Internet distribution. On October 31, 2005, Comcast officially announced that it had acquired Susquehanna Communications, a South Central Pennsylvania-based cable television and broadband services provider and unit of the former Susquehanna Pfaltzgraff company, for $775 million cash. Comcast previously owned approximately 30% of Susquehanna Communications through its affiliate company, Lenfest. In December 2005, Comcast announced the creation of Comcast Interactive Media, a new division focused on online media.
Negotiations between Comcast and NBC Universal for a potential acquisition began as early as March 2009; News Corporation and Time Warner were also reportedly interested in purchasing the studio. By September 2009, Comcast had negotiated a purchase of a stake in the company from GE, but the overall deal was held up by negotiations with Vivendi for the sale of its 20% stake to GE.[2] On December 3, 2009, Comcast announced its intent to acquire a 51% majority stake in NBC Universal; the deal would be structured as sale of Vivendi's stake in the company to GE for $5.8 billion, followed by Comcast paying $6.5 billion for a stake of NBC Universal, and contributing its existing media properties to the company, themselves valued at $7.25 billion. As a result, NBC Universal would become a joint venture between Comcast and GE, with Comcast holding a 51% majority stake. The deal, as a whole, valued NBC Universal at $30 billion. The deal included an option for General Electric to sell further stakes in the company to Comcast over a seven-year period, or Comcast to buy stakes at "specified times". Jeff Zucker was to remain CEO of NBC Universal after the acquisition, and remain headquartered in New York, but would report to Comcast.[4]
In December 2009, Comcast announced its intent to acquire a majority stake in the media conglomerate NBCUniversal from General Electric (GE). The planned acquisition was subject to scrutiny from activists and government officials; their concerns primarily surrounded the potential effects of the vertical integration that the acquisition could create, as Comcast is also heavily involved in cable television and internet services in many media markets.[1] The deal went through, resulting in Comcast owning 51% of the company until March 2013, when GE divested its stake to give Comcast sole ownership.
In April 2016, Comcast confirmed that its NBCUniversal division would acquire DreamWorks Animation for $3.8 billion. The deal closed on August 22, 2016. Universal Pictures will take over distribution of DreamWorks Animation films beginning in 2019 with "" when DreamWorks Animation's deal with 20th Century Fox expires.
Following a tentative agreement on December 1, the parties announced that Comcast would buy a controlling 51% stake in NBCUniversal for $6.5 billion in cash and $7.3 billion in programming on December 3. GE would take over the remaining 49% stake in NBC Universal, using $5.8 billion to buy out Vivendi's 20% minority stake in NBC Universal. On January 18, 2011, the FCC approved the deal by a vote of 4 to 1. The sale was completed on January 28, 2011. In late December 2012, Comcast added the NBC peacock symbol to their new logo. On February 12, 2013, Comcast announced an intention to acquire the remaining 49% of General Electric's interest in NBCUniversal, which Comcast completed on March 19, 2013.
On April 14, 2014, Comcast purchased Lions Gate Entertainment and Sony Pictures Entertainment's stakes in Fearnet to acquire full ownership of the channel. Comcast planned to fold Fearnet's programming into its existing horror- and thriller-focused network Chiller (owned by the company's NBCUniversal Cable unit) and move some of Fearnet's programming to Syfy. The merger occurred on July 31, 2014 at midnight.
The merger expanded Comcast's scale significantly; Comcast's position as a cable television provider vertical integration with its ownership of NBC Universal's broadcast television and cable networks, while Comcast's existing cable networks (including E! Golf Channel, and Versus) were horizontally integrated with the television properties of NBC. Mark Leccese of The Boston Globe noted that the combined company consisted of "10 TV and movie production studios (including Universal Pictures), 20 cable channels, 11 regional broadcast TV stations, 15 Telemundo stations, 9 regional sports cable networks, one regional news cable station (New England Cable News), a whole bunch of websites, two pro sports teams in Philadelphia and two arenas, a food service vendor, a ticket agency, and four theme parks. And some other stuff."[20]
In February 2005, Cablevision acquired News Corporation's interest in FSN New England, FSN New York, and FSN Chicago in a trade deal in which Fox sold its interest in Madison Square Garden and the arena's NBA and NHL team tenants in exchange for acquiring sole ownership of FSN Florida, FSN Ohio, and FSN's national programming and advertising division. Comcast retained its 50% stake in FSN New England; at the time, analysts speculated that Comcast would eventually acquire full control of the network for integration into its Comcast SportsNet group of regional sports networks.
On April 30, 2007, Comcast announced that it would purchase Cablevision's stakes in FSN New England and FSN Bay Area from Cablevision, giving it full ownership of FSN New England. The network was rebranded as Comcast SportsNet New England on October 1, 2007. CSN New England, along with the other Comcast SportsNet-branded networks, was revamped with a new logo and graphics package (similar to that first used by sister network Comcast SportsNet Bay Area) in August 2008.
Comcast owns and operates the Xfinity cable communications subsidiary, over-the-air national broadcast network channels (NBC and Telemundo), multiple cable-only channels (including MSNBC, CNBC, USA Network, NBCSN, and E!, among others), the film studio Universal Pictures, and Universal Parks & Resorts. It also has significant holdings in digital distribution, such as thePlatform, which it acquired in 2006. In February 2014, the company agreed to merge with Time Warner Cable in an equity swap deal worth $45.2 billion, under the terms of the agreement, Comcast was to acquire 100% of Time Warner Cable. However, on April 24, 2015, Comcast terminated the agreement. Comcast and Charter Communications entered into an agreement to conduct exclusive discussions with Sprint Corporation in late June 2017. Since October 2018, it is also the parent company of mass media pan-European company Sky, making it the biggest and leading media company with more than 53 million subscribers over five countries across Europe. 
Shields is the subject of the 2015 documentary "T-Rex: Her Fight for Gold." In 2016 Universal Pictures, a division of Comcast, which holds Olympic broadcast rights in the United States, acquired the rights to produce a film about her life story. Barry Jenkins is the screenwriter.
Comcast's cable acquisitions in 1997 were Jones Intercable, Inc. with 1 million customers, and a stake in Prime Communications with 430,000 subscribers. In February 1998, Comcast sold its U.K. division to NTL for US$600 million, along with the division's $397 million in debt. In 1999, Comcast sold Comcast Cellular to SBC Communications for $400 million, releasing them from $1.27 billion in debt. Also in 1999, Comcast acquired Greater Philadelphia Cablevision, and launched Comcast University as well as Comcast Interactive Capital Group. Later, in November 1999, Comcast purchased Lenfest, a rival cable operator. 