London Olympics and 'Ted' boost NBCUniversal results Lifted by $1.2 billion in Olympics advertising revenue and improved results at the Universal movie and theme parks units, NBCUniversal generated nearly 20% higher cash flow in the third quarter. NBCUniversal also benefited from 31% higher revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 30, largely due to its TV coverage of the London Olympics. But even without the Olympics gold, NBCUniversal revenue was up about 7%. Comcast Corp., which owns 51% of NBCUniversal, said Friday in its earnings report that the media company generated $6.8 billion in revenue for the quarter compared with $5.2 billion in the year-earlier period. Comcast does not report net earnings for its individual business units, but rather expresses results in terms of revenue and operating cash flow. Operating cash flow at NBCUniversal was $1.14 billion compared with $951 million in the third quarter of 2011. "Steve Burke [chief executive of NBCUniversal] and his team are making steady progress throughout NBCUniversal," Comcast Chief Executive Brian Roberts said Friday in an early morning call with analysts. The broadcast network division, which includes NBC and TV stations, raked in $2.8 billion in revenue for the quarter, which included $1.2 billion in Olympics ad dollars. That represented an 84% increase over the year earlier period. Broadcasting operating cash flow came in at $88 million. NBC, in particular, has gotten off to a roaring start in the new season. The long-ailing peacock network has been in an unusual spot, recording wins in the viewership category preferred by advertisers, 18-to-49-year-olds, for four straight weeks. Ratings are up 17%, marking NBC's strongest start for a new season in a decade. "It's certainly early, but I believe and hope that we are seeing the beginning of a turnaround at NBC," Roberts said. Bob Greenblatt and his new team are off to a very strong start in the new season. The company's cable television networks, including USA, Syfy, Bravo, CNBC and MSNBC, collected $2.2 billion in revenue, an increase of 3.2%. Some networks experienced softer ratings but political ad dollars flowing into MSNBC helped to erase the difference. Operating cash flow was up 7.6% to $809 million. The Universal movie studio, fueled by the randy Seth MacFarlane teddy bear movie "Ted" and the "Bourne Legacy," generated 23% higher revenue with $1.4 billion. The film unit posted $72 million in operating cash flow, an increase of 31%. Revenue at the highly profitable theme parks unit was up 5.8% to $614 million. Operating cash flow was $316 million, an increase of 11.2%. Comcast said it had about $6 billion in cash at NBCUniversal, which it plans to use to gradually buy out partner General Electric Co. -- perhaps earlier than scheduled. However, Comcast Chief Financial Officer Michael Angelakis told analysts that no decision had been made on whether to accelerate the payments to GE. Comcast is scheduled to increase its ownership stake in NBCUniversal in mid-2014. Lifted by Olympics, Comcast delivers strong earnings Despite 'Battleship' bomb, Comcast increases second-quarter profit