QUICK HITS

Comcast’s Smit Gets Cable CEO Nod

PHILADELPHIA — Comcast promoted cable division
president Neil Smit to president and CEO of
Comcast Cable Communications.

Smit reports directly to
Comcast chairman and
CEO Brian Roberts.

“Neil has done a phenomenal
job,” Roberts
said in a statement. “He
has driven innovation,
improved the customer
experience, increased the
speed of the introduction
of new products and has
expanded our company
into new opportunities for
profitable growth. I look
forward to his continued leadership of our terrific
cable team.”

Smit joined Comcast in March 2010 after serving
for five years as CEO of Charter Communications.

Prior to joining Charter, Smit served as president
of Time Warner Inc.’s America Online Access Business
overseeing Internet-service providers America
Online (AOL), CompuServe and Netscape. For five
and a half years, he served on active duty with the
U.S. Navy SEALs teams, retiring as a lieutenant
commander.

Viacom Launches $1B Debt Offering

NEW YORK — Viacom Inc. said last week that it
has launched
a $1 billion
debt offering,
to repay outstanding
debt
and for general corporate purposes, including
share repurchases.

The offering will take place in two stages –
$400 million in 2.5% senior notes due 2016 and
$600 million in 3.875% senior notes due 2021.
The sale of the senior notes is expected to close
on Dec. 12.

Citigroup Global Markets, Merrill Lynch, and RBS
Securities are serving as joint book-running managers
for the offerings.

Hendricks Reaps Another Discovery Payday

SILVER SPRINGS, MD. — Discovery Communications
founder and chairman John Hendricks reaped
a $1.3 million profit from exercising stock options,
the third such deal he has made in as many
months.

According to documents
filed with the Securities
and Exchange Commission,
Hendricks exercised
options for 49,390 shares
at $14.53 each on Dec, 5
and sold them the same
day for $41.83 per share,
reaping a profi t of $1.3 million.
The sales were part
of an automatic trading
program.

This is the third time that Hendricks has reaped
a big payday from options sales. In November,
Hendricks sold 500,000 shares for $21 million
and, in October, he sold 100,000 shares, reaping
a profi t of $2.8 million.