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Comcast Lost Another 96,000 TV Subscribers Last Quarter

As many analysts had predicted, the rate of cord cutting is accelerating at Comcast Corporation. According to the company's latest earnings report, the company lost another 92,000 pay TV subscribers during the first quarter, a notable increase from the 42,000 subscriber net gain the company reported this time last year. Comcast's growing monopoly over broadband has helped insulate the company somewhat as frustrated DSL users fleeing telcos for faster speeds often tend to bundle cable TV when they switch to nab a better rate.

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But with streaming competition soaring, that advantage isn't quite what it used to be.

Analysts predict that the rate of cord cutting at Comcast Corporation will more than double this year, as even more discounted streaming alternatives hit the market.

And it's not like Comcast hasn't been preparing for this natural evolution. On one end, the company has been trying to stall the rate of cord cutting by cozying up to Netflix, first by including Netflix in the company's X1 set top boxes, and more recently bundling Netflix into cable, phone and broadband packages if users are willing to sign a two year contract.

But Comcast's primary countermeasure involves making existing broadband services more expensive. The company has slowly but surely been imposing arbitrary and unnecessary usage caps and overage fees to make sure the company recoups any potential TV revenue losses and makes cutting the cord more expensive for users. Such limits are little more than glorified price hikes, only made possible by the lack of real broadband competition (at speeds of 25 Mbps) across most of the company's markets.

Thanks to a growing array of telcos that simply refuse to seriously upgrade their networks (CenturyLink and Frontier have been particularly awful on this front), Comcast continues to add broadband subscribers at a faster rate than most of its competitors, adding another 370,000 broadband subscribers during the first quarter.

Most recommended from 48 comments


thxultra
join:2015-04-14
Aurora, IL

20 recommendations

thxultra

Member

Not surprised

Equipment fees and expensive packages of channels people don't care to watch. Also all the extra fees just piss people off. Regional sports fee, Local tv surcharge... Complete racket. Don't miss cable one bit.

Anon0311d
@charter.com

12 recommendations

Anon0311d

Anon

Haha

You mean people have stopped paying money for commercials? Well I'll be darned! I'll be DARNED! DARN!!!
brianiscool
join:2000-08-16
Tampa, FL

12 recommendations

brianiscool

Member

Cable?

What is Cable? Is that what they used in the early 2000's ?

Economist
The economy, stupid
Premium Member
join:2015-07-10
united state

9 recommendations

Economist

Premium Member

Cutting pricing and getting aggressive with promos will not save linear TV

The market is simply changing.

buzz_4_20
join:2003-09-20
Dover, NH

5 recommendations

buzz_4_20

Member

Cable TV

Paying Extra, Plus getting hit with a pile of below the line fees, then getting bombarded with loud abusive ads intruding upon the content I'm already paying for... boy I just wonder why people aren't signing up in droves.
nitin00
join:2010-01-17
Stockton, CA

3 recommendations

nitin00

Member

comcast has to be the worst when it comes to caps

I have said it before and I will say it again. Comcast is the worst when it comes to caps. Heck they even have a cap on 1gig service in my area. They sort of even ignore the fact that AT&T has 1 gig service with no caps for cheaper. I think they just don't even want to address it and keep it hush hush. I am fairly certain most consumers (average house hold) is not aware of the fact and Comcast doesn't want to bring it up a lot so they don't have to admit it. I am sure in time it will change though. They can only be stubborn for so long.

JJ Johnson
Premium Member
join:2001-08-25
Fort Collins, CO

3 recommendations

JJ Johnson

Premium Member

Comcast is crying all the way to the bank

quote:
Total revenue revenue increased nearly 11% to $22.79 billion, edging the Thomson/Reuters analyst consensus of $22.74 billion. Earnings per share of 62 cents, on an adjusted basis, beat estimates of 59 cents.
Added 370,000 (very lucrative) broadband subscribers. As per the comment above, the market is simply changing. And Comcast is weathering it rather spectacularly.