Comcast cable CTO Sree Kotay says the company is not satisfied being Netflix, and wants to be seen as the Tesla or Mercedes of cable service. In the age of flexible and cheap alternative streaming options, cable companies have been forced to justify what's increasingly seen as as an unsustainable price point for cable service. Mercedes is often used as a brand high water mark; departed Time Warner Cable CEO Rob Marcus saying cable prices are high because they offer Mercedes-grade product.
Obviously this narrative doesn't work particularly well for an industry with arguably the worst customer service and satisfaction rankings of any industry in America. That doesn't stop cable execs from using the argument often.
"We kind of don't want to be Netflix. We don't want an $8 or $9 product," Kotay told Comcast’s hometown paper, the Philadelphia Inquirer.
"Not to knock them or anything, but we want to be a Tesla or a Mercedes and be a premium product," Kotay said. "The point of empowering our product and development teams is fundamentally not just about direction and ambition, it's also about tapping into their creativity, and that's how you make great products.”
Comcast has pretty frequently suggested that its X1 set top box platform is so incredibly innovative, the company doesn't have to compete on price. It has also fought recent FCC attempts to bring competition to the cable box, arguing that such competition would only hamper this innovation. The problem is all of the X1 features in the world can't help fix Comcast's utterly abysmal customer service, which has been the butt of jokes for more than a decade now. Charging more money for the same broadband service (aka usage caps) isn't helping matters.
Premium prices need to be matched with premium products and support. And while Comcast promises annually that improving customer service is its top priority, brands like Mercedes are likely the last thing on the minds of anybody that has to spend more than five minutes talking to Comcast support on the telephone.
Mercedes-Benz just had their 114th anniversary. If their customers experiences were like that of Comcast subscribers, they would have gone out of business about 100 years ago.
They're going to be GREAT again! They are gonna get YUUUUGE! A vision for America, not a specific vision, a GREAT vision, the BEST vision. Comcast has a plan to make this country great again, what plan? a Great Plan. A plan that will work, because it is the BEST! Why? Because Comcast knows good people. Which people? The best people. People who aren't stupid, like other people. People who know how to get deals done. What deals? Great deals. The biggest deals. Deal or No Deal. Let's make a deal. Make america great again, support comcast -- Fear of god isn't the beginning of wisdom, it's the end.
They're a Monopoly Utility, not an Optional Luxury
""We kind of don't want to be Netflix. We don't want an $8 or $9 product," Kotay told Comcast’s hometown paper, the Philadelphia Inquirer.
"Not to knock them or anything, but we want to be a Tesla or a Mercedes and be a premium product,""
The problem with that statement is that Comcast is supposed to be a utility. Any municipality that grants them their monopoly and sees that statement should immediately revoke it. It's one thing to want to be a premium company in a competitive environment. It's another thing to want that when you're a utility with a captive market.
X1 may be nice but the signal transmission and lack of HD stink!
X1 is really nice but no way can you call Comcast the mercedes of cable. First off many area's are still only 750 MHz and lower. System in my area your lucky to get 46 db upstream at the TAP. Add 100 ft drop, splitters, etc and your over the limit. The system is in needs of a rebuild. They need to take it to node+0 if possible or node+1 at the most, go 1.2 GHz forward path and take the upstream higher as well. Get rid of all the 26 and 23 value taps!!!! Replace 40 year old spans of hardline!
Mercedes of cable lol... they need to fix up the transmission system for sure. Don't get me started on how many HD channels they are missing or how overcompressed they are!
As someone who has owned a Mercedes before I'd say they're spot on with their analogy, they over charge for a crap brand, I had to sell the Mercedes when I still owed $5k on it because within 3 months I had $10k in repairs that needed to be done I couldn't afford. -- Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning. -Albert Einstein
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