Comcast thrives on broadband, digital phone subscriptions in Q1
by Darren Murph 
posted May 5th 2008 at 11:33AM
Comcast's Q1 earnings report was fairly devoid of surprises, with a net income of $732 million compared with $837 million in the same quarter last year. It should be noted, however, that Q1 2007 included a $300 million one-time gain "from the dissolution of a cable partnership with Time Warner Cable in which Comcast received cable systems in Houston." The only interesting tidbits were the sectors in which the carrier lost and gained subscribers: 57,000 basic cable customers jumped ship, while 492,000 new high-speed internet and 639,000 digital voice customers signed on. It was also noted that 494,000 individuals picked up its digital cable service (compared with last year's 658,000), but it failed to say how many were paying out for HD. If we had to guess, we'd say satellite / fiber are beginning to eat away at the coax-laden mothership.[Via CNN Money]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jim Mallory @ May 5th 2008 11:55AM
Strange looks to me like Comcast is taking away high-margin voice and data customers from the Telco while losing low-margin basic cable subscribers.
And who is to say those basic subscribers (that they didn't convert to higher margin Digital Canle) went to another provider? With the economy as bad as it is...I would guess (and since were all just guessing here mine is as good as anyone else's) that a lit of these people have just gone OTA and not to Dish/Telco.
Chad @ May 5th 2008 12:47PM
Not so fast there Jim. I happen to be one of those 57,000 basic subscribers they lost (I also had the RoadRunner high speed package and Earthlink VOIP) and the reason I ditched them was purely based on their reputation in the cable industry. I hated giving up my high speeds and going back to DSL but I wasn't about to get the kind of treatment I had read about over the years from hundreds of thousands of dissatisfied customers. I called the day after I learned Comcast was taking over the Houston market and canceled all services. Time Warner was overpriced and service was sub par but Comcast's reputation preceded it. It wasn't long before my decision was proven to be a wise one either. The official announcement when Comcast arrived was that prices would remain the same while service would be augmented. Less than a month later they raised rates across the board 6%. Then there is the whole bogus reset packets fiasco. I had basic cable because for me Time Warner's expanded offerings weren't worth what they cost. I currently have AT&T Voice, 3.0 Mbps / 512 Kbps DSL, and Dish Top 200 for $99 a month. Comcast is $99 for the first 12 months then jumps to $131.89 a month thereafter. AT&T just installed the new CO's down the street with fiber so U-Verse is only days away for the same price I'm paying for the Dish setup now! I would switch to Hughs Net satellite before going back to comcast.
Dave @ May 6th 2008 9:20AM
I made the switch from Comcast to Dish a couple years ago knocking my monthly fees by about 40% and getting me a free DVR.
Sadly, I had to join back up with Comcast last year to get my high-speed internet (currently still can't get DSL in my area - 100ft out of range). Paying $60 /month for 8Mbps with *actual* speeds clocking in around 3-4.5Mbps.
My friend who lives 1 mile away is able to get AT&T dsl for 1/2 the price I pay (*not* an introductory rate) and gets slightly faster actual speeds than I do. Needless to say, I will be jumping ship from Comcast for good the moment I can get DSL! Comcast is in desperate need of offering more competitive pricing (rather than 6 month "deals" that get you around the cost of the other guys for the first 6 months!)
HDTVFanAtic @ May 5th 2008 12:50PM
You better rethink the "we" part of your analysis.
If 57,000 cheap/basic subs disappear - and 494,000 pick up the more expensive digital cable service - that's a huge victory. Furthermore, given the Internet and Phone gains, most likely those basic cable subs converted to triple play packages.
You are the first to predict good numbers for satellite in first quarter. Everyone else notes you cannot give away DBS subs in first quarter - and with the housing market at a standstill, they predict cable will smash Dish and Directv numbers in Q1.
The good thing is you can make dire predictions about coax and still be owned by Time Warner - and they don't censor you. Too bad you were wrong on this one though.
Jim Mallory @ May 5th 2008 1:13PM
Another way to look at this.
For every basic subscriber that Comcast loses they...
Add 8 Digital Cable Subscribers
Add 8 HSI subscribers
Add 11 Digital Voice subscribers
I would figure that a lot of these are triple-play subscribers...but in any event Comcast is covering any losses they are taking on basic subscribers.
Allan @ May 5th 2008 1:35PM
I"m a Comcast Cable/HSI customer in Houston, and have not experienced too many issues with their service. The only thing that I have a complaint about is how long it takes them to add HD Channels in an area, and getting information from them on when more will be added, is like pulling teeth. It just doesn't appear to be a priority for them, and they don't seem to understand how incredibly bad SD channels are on an HD TV through their service. Having to watch FX or SciFi shows is almost painful. I'm seriously considering switching to DirecTV.
DavidB @ May 5th 2008 4:13PM
Comcast might be able to improve their HD customer additions and slow the bleeding to satellite and fios if they would eliminate the stretch-o-vision "pseudo-HD" channels and actually added some REAL HD content. Every Comcast customer needs to urge them to add more REAL HD channels. HDNet and HDNet Movies come to mind immediately, why Comcast refuses to offer them is beyond me!
omoks @ May 5th 2008 6:18PM
The cable company has no control on whether stations decide on streth o vision.
Jim Mallory @ May 5th 2008 5:54PM
Bleeding? They lost 57,000 BASIC subscribers....these people aren't leaving because Comcast doesn't offer HDNET. They are leaving because either they can no longer afford basic cable or are seeing which provider will whore themselves out at the lowest price and going with that. And if Comcast is bleeding video subscribers to DBS and Telco, the Telco's must be hemorrhaging Voice and Data subscribers to Comcast.
Jim Mallory @ May 5th 2008 5:57PM
And in terms of HDNET, Cuban has said repeatedly that they are constantly talking to Comcast....and the reason they don't carry the channel is because Comcast and HDNET can not come to mutually agreeable terms.
TRU3L3GEND @ May 5th 2008 9:57PM
Wait so you guys are saying HDNet isnt offered at all? Here in Houston we have HDNET but its premium and you have to play $3.00 a month....for 2 channels
ChiWax @ May 6th 2008 4:19AM
Why doesn't Comcast have better menus? Is it because the set-top boxes can't do any more than they already do? We use Comcast's cable line-up to pipe our Media Center laden home. We use Comcast as just a coax line of channels. Beyond that...they don't offer much on the tv front. Their HD sux. I looked at the non-encrypted channels and thought my eyes were broken. I do love the hi-speed internet tho. To bad everyone around here already has it. Doesn't leave much growth potential for Comcast. Q.