Senior Comcast officials to donate salaries to coronavirus relief efforts

Senior Comcast officials announced Wednesday that they planned to donate their salaries to coronavirus-related relief efforts.

Comcast chief Brian Roberts said in a memo obtained by The Hill that he, NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell, senior executive vice president and CFO Mike Cavanagh, Comcast Cable CEO David Watson and Sky CEO Jeremy Darroch would donate 100 percent of their salaries to charities backing coronavirus relief. 

“We hope in some small way we can make this time easier on our employees, our local communities and our customers,” Roberts said in the memo to employees.

Roberts also committed $500 million to go to support employees “where operations have been paused or impacted.”

Comcast’s broadband usage has increased as more Americans are being instructed to stay at home through executive orders by governors, CNBC reported.

The company is expected to experience a downturn because of decreased global advertising spending and temporarily shutting down Universal theme parks. The 2020 Olympics delay postpones revenue expected for NBCUniversal, the only provider with broadcast rights during the Olympics.

Investors have been cautioned that the social distancing policy may have a “material adverse impact on our results of operations over the near to medium term,” according to CNBC.

Roberts said in the email that he did not “know when the worst will be behind us” but said it’s important to “remain optimistic.”

“None of us has ever experienced anything like this before, and while it is easy to get mired in the many challenges we are all facing, I think that in uncertain times like these it is incumbent upon us to remain optimistic and look for the good, even if it can be elusive,” Roberts said.