Comcast, NBC News and NBC 5 Chicago Announce $2.7 Million Commitment to Museum of Broadcast Communications

Published on Thursday, 26 January 2012 11:09 Written by TradersHuddle Staff

CHICAGO-( Business Wire )-

Comcast Corporation, NBC News and NBC 5 Chicago today announced an enhanced commitment to the new 62,000-square-foot Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago, pledging more than $2.7 million worth of in-kind and financial support to its completion and promotion. The Museum of Broadcast Communications, expected to open later this year, will inform and entertain its visitors about the rich history of the television and radio industries through its archives, public programs, screenings, exhibits, publications and online resources.

Under the partnership with the museum, Comcast will donate up to $500,000 of 30-second advertising spots every year for five years to air on Comcast cable systems to help advertise and promote the museum. To assist the museum in fulfilling its mission of telling the story of the history of television, NBC News and NBC 5 will make available select historic artifacts to the facility that can be displayed as part of temporary or permanent exhibits and donate video clips to museum archives to enhance its collection. In addition, NBC News had previously committed $200,000 to the museum to help complete construction of the exhibits and presentation areas.

Other components of the new partnership include:

• Naming the museum’s principle presentation area the Comcast NBCUniversal Center. The Comcast NBCUniversal Center will be a venue for industry pioneers, visiting personalities, authors, journalists and scholars to present on the media and its future. Public presentations in the Comcast NBCUniversal Center may be recorded and shared On Demand and via video streaming;
• Producing an introductory 8-10 minute video presentation for the Comcast NBCUniversal Center that will explore radio and television’s historic role in American life and its evolving impact on society worldwide;
• Creating a 30-minute documentary on the early days of television for local airing on NBC 5 Chicago;
• Holding at least two public programs a year featuring NBC News and NBC 5 talent; and
• Hosting at least one annual Career Assembly for inner city Chicago Public School students featuring NBC 5 journalists or executives.

The new museum, located in downtown Chicago at State and Kinzie Streets and one of just three broadcast museums in the United States, will offer five times as much space as the previous location in the Chicago Cultural Center, which closed in 2003 so the staff could focus on the new facility. With the additional space, the museum will be able to serve a wide range of audiences, expand its collections and increase exhibit and programming space. On site features include over 15,000 square feet devoted to the exhibition of television and radio history; state-of-the-art television and radio studios for hands-on experiences; and a media-equipped education center for group orientation and teaching.

“Comcast is excited to play a significant role in launching and promoting the Museum of Broadcast Communications,” said David L. Cohen, Executive Vice President of Comcast Corporation. “This major addition to Chicago promises to educate visitors about the birth and the evolution of electronic media, and we look forward to being a part of that.”

“NBC News is proud to be associated with the new Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago,” said NBC News President Steve Capus. “This important institution will tell the story of American radio and television, and the important place of news in that story, to generations of scholars and visitors.”

“Chicago’s rich history makes it a fitting home for the Museum of Broadcast Communications,” said Larry Wert, President and General Manager of NBC 5 Chicago. “The donations made by Comcast and NBC will contribute toward creating a facility as well-developed as the history it showcases and help ensure the public is aware of all the museum has to offer.”

“We are grateful to have Comcast, NBC News, and NBC 5 Chicago – institutions that have contributed so much to the history of television – show so much support for our new facility,” said Bruce DuMont, Founder, President and CEO of the Museum of Broadcast Communications. “We are excited to open our doors and share the experience with visitors.”

About Comcast Corporation

Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) (www.comcast.com) is one of the world’s leading media, entertainment and communications companies. Comcast is principally involved in the operation of cable systems through Comcast Cable Communications and in the development, production and distribution of entertainment, news, sports and other content for global audiences through NBCUniversal. Comcast Cable Communications is one of the nation’s largest video, high-speed Internet and phone providers to residential and business customers. Comcast is the majority owner and manager of NBCUniversal, which owns and operates entertainment and news cable networks, the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks, local television station groups, television production operations, a major motion picture company and theme parks.

About NBC News

NBC News has been a leading source of global news and information for more than 75 years. Every week, NBC News provides more than 30 hours of television news programming, including the top-rated NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, Today and Meet the Press programs. Dateline NBC and Rock Center with Brian Williams are the network’s primetime newsmagazines. NBC is the only broadcast news division with an affiliated cable channel, MSNBC, which provides 24-hour-a-day coverage of news events around the globe. Online, msnbc.com is the number one video news site on the Internet. NBC News has also built an engaged following on Facebook, Twitter and other social networks.

About NBC 5 Chicago

NBC 5 (WMAQ-TV) is the NBC owned station in Chicago. On October 8, 1948, the station, then called WNBQ-TV, transmitted its first telecast from the Merchandise Mart – the third game of the Indians-Braves World Series in Cleveland, Ohio. The station’s current call letters, WMAQ-TV, were established in 1964. During NBC 5’s rich history, the station pioneered a number of television “firsts.” On April 15, 1956, NBC 5 became the world’s first all-color station. In September of 1986, NBC 5 became the first Chicago commercial station to broadcast in stereo. In 1989, NBC 5 was the first Chicago station to present closed captioning of all local newscasts, and in 2004, was the first television station to launch a street side studio at 401 N. Michigan Avenue, Studio 5. Currently, NBC 5 airs over 30 hours of local news per week in HD. Chicago Nonstop, Digital 5.2 launched in November 2010, with over 22 hours of local programming weekly. Viewers can also follow the station at NBCChicago.com.

About the MBC

The Museum of Broadcast Communications (MBC) is an Illinois non-profit corporation and manages two subsidiaries, Museum.tv and the National Radio Hall of Fame (NRHOF) and its website radiohof.org. The MBC’s mission is to collect, preserve and present historic and contemporary and television content as well as educate, inform and entertain the public through its archives, public programs, screening, exhibits, publications and online access to its resources. The MBC is also the author of the Encyclopedia of Advertising, Encyclopedia of Television, the Encyclopedia of Radio and the book, “Chicago Television.” For more information, please visit http://www.Museum.TV.

NBC Owned Television StationsShawn Feddeman Cronin, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.