AT&T has publicly stated that they are no longer involved in the distribution of pornography - but publicly available research indicates that this was nothing more than a PR spin.
In a letter dated March 18, Connie Weaver, Executive Vice President of Public Relations and Brand Management for AT&T, told the Rev. Dr. Jerry Kirk, the Co-Chairman of the Religious Alliance Against Pornography, that with the "sale" of AT&T's cable division to Comcast "there will no longer be any connection between the two companies."
Not quite true.
In November 2002, AT&T announced the completion of their spin-off of AT&T Broadband and it’s simultaneous merger with Comcast Corporation, now officially known as Comcast Holding Corporation, creating the world’s largest broadband and cable service provider.
The key word is "merger." While Comcast Corporations co-founder Ralph Roberts and his family retained high level positions in the company and are said to control 1/3 of the class B voting stock, which is not publicly traded - the vast majority of the new companies voting stock is controlled by AT&T.
It's true that AT&T sold their cable properties to a company now known as Comcast Holding Corporation, which appears to be the umbrella company that includes Comcast Cable- but its also true that AT&T has a 53% economic stake in the company and owns 66% of the voting stock in that company and appointed five members of Comcast's board .
It started with the Philadelphia based Comcast Corporation buying a Baltimore, Md. cable system with 115,000 subscribers for approximately $518 million in cash to AT&T in July 2001.
Six days after the announcement regarding the purchase - Comcast Corporation announced a proposed merger between themselves and AT&T. At that time Comcast Cable was the third largest cable company in the United States serving more than 8.4 million cable subscribers.
Less than the half-a-year later, both companies issued a joint press release announcing their intentions to merge AT&T Broadband and Comcast to create a company with 22 million subscribers. Under the terms of the agreement, AT&T planned to spin off AT&T Broadband, their cable holdings, and simultaneously merge it with Comcast Corporation to form a new company called AT&T Comcast Corporation.
After much haggling, it was decided that AT&T shareholders were entitled to receive 0.3235 shares of the new Comcast Corporation Class A common stock in respect of each share of AT&T common stock they owned at the close of business November 15, 2002 - the official date for the spin-off of AT&T Broadband and Comcast Corporation.
Yet in her letter to Kirk, Baker attests that "current shareholders of AT&T may or may not own shares of Comcast."
It is not known how many stockholders took advantage of that offer, but as the shareholders were also entitled to keep all of their existing AT&T stock, turning down the offer of stock in the new company would have been tantamount to turning down cash.
On November 18th, 2002 - the day the merger took place, the new company is no longer referred to as AT&T Comcast Corporation - just Comcast Corporation. There was no explanation for the name change.
"Today marks the birth of a leading national broadband communications media and entertainment company. The people of Comcast and AT&T Broadband should be proud of what they have created, and excited for the opportunities that the future is sure to bring," C. Michael Armstrong, Chairman of Comcast, said in a jointly released statement to the press announcing the deal on November 18, 2002.
Armstrong was the AT&T CEO who engineered the spin off and merger of AT&T Broadband with Comcast Corporation. His position as Chairmen of Comcast was part of the deal.
Out of the twelve members of Comcast's Board of Directors, five were named by Comcast from its board. AT&T also named five, including Armstrong. In addition, the two companies jointly appointed two board members.
In the next company press release, just eight days later - Comcast changed their name to Comcast Holdings - again, without explanation.
So it would appear that pressure from the right wing religious right is not quite as powerful as they would like to think, altough it's clear that AT&T doesn't want them to be aware of that.
The Rev. Dr. Jerry Kirk seems to have taken AT&T's word at face value. He's posted the letter from Weaver on the Website of another anti-porn organization he's involved with - The National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families, the group that launched chapters of Citizens for Community Values across the nation.
To see Connie Weaver's letter to The Rev. Dr. Jerry Kirk - click here.
