Comcast will spend an extra $300 million this year to improve new acquisition NBC Universal, mostly by spending more on NBC's troubled primetime schedule.
In a conference call about NBCU's first quarter earnings -- the company reported Tuesday that profits were up 9 percent -- NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke said the $300 million would go mostly toward improving the primetime lineup of the fourth-place network.
He conceded the turnaround would be years in the making.
Also read: 'The Voice' Ratings Up 10% in Second Week
Burke pointed to "The Voice" as an early success, saying the network could build more shows around the heavily promoted singing competition, which debuted last week to strong numbers and built on them in Tuesday's airing.
The first quarter was NBCU's first as part of Comcast. The cable giant acquired majority ownership of the company in January.
