Comcast, like “Ole Man River,” just keeps rolling along in broadband. For the quarter, it added 118,000 net additional broadband subscribers, compared to a net of 65,000 in the year ago quarter. It also continued to bedevil the phone companies by adding 230,000 net new phone subscribers, compared with 233,000 in the second quarter of 2009.
CFO Michael Angelakis said the net addition of 118,000 broadband subscribers was lower than some analysts had expected. He blamed it on the weak US economy and tougher competition from telcos with their fiber-optic service. Verizon added 196,000 net new FiOS Internet subscribers in the second quarter. AT&T added 209,000 U-verse TV subscribers in its second quarter.
As with other cablecos, Comcast is upgrading its broadband network gear to DOCSIS 3.0, which is currently capable of offering speeds up to 100 Mbps. To match those speeds the phone companies must pull new fiber optical wires to each home, not just replace the network gear as the cablecos are doing for DOCIS 3.0.
Pay TV was a mixed bag as Comcast continues to lose basic subscribers to the phone and satellite TV companies. Comcast lost 265,000 video subscribers, compared to a loss of 214,000 in the year ago quarter. It now has 23.2 million pay-TV subscribers. It continued to upgrade many of them to pricier digital subscriptions. Comcast signed up 394,000 to digital, more than the 250,000 it signed up in the year ago quarter.
Quarterly revenue rose by 6.1% to $9.53 billion from $9 billion. However, net earnings declined to $884 million, compared to the year ago $967 million. It blamed the decline partially to costs incurred in its acquisition of NBC Universal, which it hopes to complete by year-end. The acquisition will make Comcast one of the world’s largest media companies.
At US cableco Charter, a similar type of result was seen with digital video customers up by 25,500 but total video customers falling by 76,600 in the quarter. Video ARPU moved to $68.90 up 4.8% year-over-year and HD and DVR penetration increased. Charter added roughly 171,500 high speed internet customers.
This first ran in the Rider Research publication The Online Reporter.