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Comcast Expands High-Definition TV Lineup in Dallas Market With the Addition of KERA
PBS Affiliate Provides Award-Winning Public Television Programming

IRVING, Texas, Jun 8, 2004 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Comcast today announced it is expanding its current robust High Definition Television (HDTV) lineup with the addition of KERA -- the PBS affiliate for North Texas -- for all Comcast HDTV customers in the Dallas metropolitan area.

KERA and its award-winning public television programs are now available to more than half a million homes within Comcast's service area on Comcast Cable channel 656. The service is available to customers in the Dallas area who have an HDTV-ready television set that utilizes an HD-enabled Digital Cable box, provided by Comcast.

The immediate service areas include: Addison, Allen, Arlington, Bedford, Carrollton, Cedar Hill, Cockrell Hill, Colleyville, Coppell, Dallas, Dalworthington Gardens, Denton, DeSoto, Double Oak, Euless, Farmers Branch, Flower Mound, Frisco, Garland, Grand Prairie, Grapevine, Hebron, Highland Village, Hutchins, Irving, Lancaster, Lewisville, McKinney, Mesquite, Murphy, Pantego, Parker, Plano, Princeton, Richardson, Rowlett, Sachse, Southfork, St. Paul, Stonebridge, Sunnyvale, The Colony and Wylie.

"KERA is very pleased that Comcast's growing number of HD users will have access to the award-winning public television programs we air, many of them now broadcast in HD," says Gary Ferrell, President and CEO of KERA. "Through this expanded service, Comcast's customers will be able to tune in to critically acclaimed PBS productions as well as a growing collection of television programs produced locally by KERA that are focused on issues that greatly impact North Texans -- from news and public affairs to coverage of Texas arts institutions."

KERA produces roughly 50 hours of original local television productions each year, all shot in high definition format. The station's contributions to the national PBS schedule have included JFK: Breaking the News, Roy Bedichek's Vanishing Frontier, The Cliburn: Playing on the Edge, Matisse & Picasso, and the Emmy Award-winning series, The U.S.-Mexican War (1846-1848). KERA's weekly news and public affairs program, On the Record, is also shot and aired in HD. Television specials currently in production at KERA include Maya & Miguel, a national kids' television series premiering this fall on PBS and Margo Jones: A Life in the American Theater, a one-hour documentary starring Richard Thomas and Judith Ivey and slated for national broadcast in Spring 2004.

"We're thrilled to bring our customers even more high-definition programming that enhances the value of Comcast's cable service," said Mike Cleland, Comcast's Area Vice President for the Dallas Market. "With high definition broadcasts from our local networks, as well as leading national networks like HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, Starz!, INHD, INHD2 and ESPN, Comcast offers one of the most robust HDTV packages available anywhere," added Cleland.

HDTV technology provides video and audio that is clearer, sharper and more vibrant than previous video transmission systems. The service is available for customers with an HDTV-ready television set and uses a Digital Cable box provided by Comcast. With the addition of these new channels, Comcast is continuing to build on its strong lineup of HDTV content throughout the region.

Comcast carries twelve high-definition channels including WFAA-TV (ABC), KTVT-TV (CBS), KXAS-TV (NBC), KERA (PBS) and enhanced wide-screen digital programming from Fox. Comcast also offers other popular channels in high- definition including INHD, INHD2, HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, and Starz!. Sports fans can enjoy the excitement of their favorite sports in crystal-clear high definition with ESPN HD.

In addition to HDTV, customers who subscribe to Comcast Digital Cable can receive more than 250 channels, including dozens of commercial-free premium movie channels, 45 channels of commercial-free music, and an interactive on- screen guide and more.

For more information about Comcast's products and services, please telephone 1-800-Comcast, or visit the company's website at http://www.comcast.com .

Comcast recently celebrated its one-year anniversary in the Dallas market. Since that time it has introduced more than a dozen new channel offerings to the community, including new Hispanic channels; completed a $70 million upgrade to its cable network; doubled the speed of Comcast High Speed Internet Service; launched an enhanced Comcast portal with additional content; introduced Comcast Teleworker Service, a new high speed Internet Service for home-based employees, and HospitalityOne, a broadband service serving the hospitality industry.

About Comcast Cable

Headquartered in Philadelphia, Comcast Cable is a division of Comcast Corporation (CMCSA), a developer, manager and operator of broadband cable networks and provider of programming content. With a presence in 22 of the top 25 United States markets, Comcast is one of the leading communications, media and entertainment companies in the world. Providing basic cable, Digital Cable, high-speed Internet and telephone services, Comcast is the company to look to first for the communications products and services that connect people to what's important in their lives. The company's 59,000 employees serve more than 21 million customers.

Comcast, whose regional offices are located in Irving, serves more than half a million customers and employs more than 1,400 people in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

About KERA

KERA, a major public broadcasting producer and a leading community-based radio and television institution, regularly contributes to the national PBS schedule by producing programs that showcase Texas and the Southwest to the nation. Its television productions have been lauded for excellence by top industry awards, including a national George Foster Peabody Award in 2002 for KERA's co-production of The Cliburn: Playing on the Edge and a national Emmy Award in 1998 for KERA's four-part documentary series, The U.S.-Mexican War (1846-1848). In 2001, KERA received a national Emmy nomination for its first high-definition television documentary, Matisse & Picasso.

SOURCE Comcast Cable

Angel Biasatti of Comcast Cable, +1-972-830-3811, or cell,

+1-214-213-7686 or angel_biasatti@cable.comcast.com ; or Steve Anderson of

KERA, +1-214-740-9283, or cell, +1-817-991-9791, or sanderson@kera.org

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