Comcast is a profitable, growing organization. With one foot in distribution and the other planted in content, Comcast saw their second quarter of revenue grow over 6% while operating income grew over 4% from the same quarter last year. In a recessionary economy, Comcast seems to be doing well. The stock market must like the numbers because the stock price is up today as well.
As for the cable part of the business, Comcast must recognize that its subscriber numbers continue to drop. While the loss is lower than anticipated, it still adds up to almost 400,000 less subscribers for the year. But Comcast is able to offset those losses with an increase in both broadband and telephone customers. And that trend is likely to continue for quite some time. The younger generation is more oriented toward a broadband connection than to cable and the cost of a cable subscription only pushes the envelope for more cord cutting.
On the programming front, NBC and their owned cable networks are performing within an expected range, the Olympics could actually break even, and Universal Studios has had some hits to offset their box office duds. Thumbs up to "Ted", thumbs down to "Battleship". So congrats to Comcast, content and distribution together seems to be a successful mix.
