Advanced Television

Comcast delivers on broadband, but TV cords still cut

October 29, 2020

Comcast has reported its best ever increases in broadband subscribers in Q3 2020.

The cable company added 633,000 broadband customers, exceeding its previous record of 586,000  additions set in Q1 2007.  But video customers declined by 273,000 in the period, an improvement over the 427,000 it lost in Q2 and slightly higher than the 222,000 it lost in the prior year. Revenue at the cable unit was up 2.9 per cent to $15 billion (€12.85bn).

This performance didn’t make up for the dive at NBCUniversal, which has been hit hard by the pandemic, as its theme parks were shut down and filmed entertainment coped with screen closures across the country. Consolidated revenue was down 4.8 per cent to $25.5 billion.

“We are nearly eight months into this pandemic – and despite many harsh realities, I couldn’t be more pleased and proud of how our team has worked together across the company to find safe and creative solutions to successfully operate in this environment,” said Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts Roberts.

“We are executing at the highest level; and perhaps, most importantly, accelerating innovation, which will drive long-term future growth. This third quarter, we delivered the best broadband results in our company’s history. Driven by our industry-leading platform and strategic focus on broadband, aggregation and streaming, we added a record 633,000 high-speed internet customers and 556,000 total net new customer relationships. At the same time, we’re growing our entertainment platforms with the addition of Flex, which has a significant positive impact on broadband churn and customer lifetime value. Our integrated strategy is also driving results in streaming with nearly 22 million sign-ups for Peacock to date, and we are exceeding our expectations on all engagement metrics in only a few months. And Sky continues to add customer relationships at higher prices while reducing churn to all-time lows in our core UK business. Going forward, and as we emerge from the pandemic, we believe we are extremely well positioned to provide seamless and integrated experiences for our customers and to deliver superior long-term growth and returns for our shareholders,” Roberts added.

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