Obituary
Ralph Roberts, 95, Comcast founder, died Thursday in Philadelphia of natural causes. The chairman emeritus of the No. 1 U.S. multichannel video programming distributor, now run by his son Brian, Comcast's chairman and CEO, Ralph Roberts founded Comcast in 1963…
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with the purchase of a 1,200-subscriber cable system in Tupelo, Mississippi. He helped oversee Comcast's expansion over the years, partly through acquisitions, including the 2002 AT&T Broadband buy that vaulted Comcast to No. 1 MVPD. Survivors include his wife, three other children besides Brian and eight grandchildren. A private funeral service is planned for the family and a ceremony celebrating Ralph's life will be held at a future time, the company said Friday. Statements of condolence poured in Friday, including from the American Cable Association, Cablevision, Charter Communications, C-SPAN, NCTA and TWC (see here, here, here and here). FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler learned from Roberts, Wheeler said. "He has left a lasting legacy on the communications landscape of America.”