Happy Birthday, Ralph: Comcast Celebrates As Roberts Turns 90

By MCN Staff -- Multichannel News, 3/15/2010 12:22:28 PM

This past Saturday (March 13), Ralph Roberts, founder and chairman emeritus of Comcast Corp. and father of chairman and CEO Brian Roberts, turned 90 years old.

Employees celebrated with the guest of honor last Friday at lunch at “Ralph’s Cafe,” the cafeteria on the 43rd floor of Comcast’s towering headquarters in downtown Philadelphia.

Ralph and Brian entered the packed cafe, Brian introduced his dad, and the assembled employees clapped and cheered the man who founded the company with the purchase of a cable system in Tupelo, Miss., in 1963, spokesman John Demming told The Wire Friday.

Then came the cake. Not just any cake, of course: one prepared and presented by the star of TLC’s Cake Boss, Buddy Valastro. Basically a cake complex, it included the new Comcast Center, a miniature Ralph standing in front and a polka-dotted bow tie, his signature accessory.

Lauren Hart, a Philadelphia native who sings the national anthem at Flyers and Phillies games, led everyone in singing “Happy Birthday to You.” Then the honoree gave his thanks.

From afar, The Wire wishes many happy returns.

Comcast Sub Wins $41,000 From GSN On ‘Bingo Blitz’

Talk about keeping customers and affiliates happy. GSN was pleased to tell The Wire last week that a Comcast customer, Rosemarie Rivera, of Chicago, won $41,000 in the biggest jackpot yet from the network’s Bingo Blitz. Fans join the game on GSN.com, then tune into to GSN weekdays 6-6:30 p.m. Central time to see if anyone picked the right five-number sequence. If no one does, the $1,000 prize rolls over to the next night.

“We couldn’t be more delighted that the biggest Bingo Blitz winner to date is a longtime Comcast customer who lives and works right here in Chicago,” David Williams, marketing VP for Comcast’s Greater Chicago Region, told The Wire, via GSN.

Erratum

Michael Schumacher is returning to Formula One racing with Mercedes, not Ferrari. The Wire regrets writing that mistake in the vicinity of Speed’s Erik Arneson last week.