Comcast now has more Internet customers than cable TV subscribers

  • By Meg James Los Angeles Times
  • Monday, May 4, 2015 1:18pm
  • Business

Comcast Corp. again demonstrated that the future is indeed the Internet.

Comcast beat Wall Street estimates on Monday with first quarter profit up 10 percent compared with the year-ago period with strong gains in its Internet service business. The positive earnings came less than two weeks after the company’s planned $45 billion takeover of Time Warner Cable collapsed amid pressure from Washington.

Federal regulators were gearing up to block the merger, worried that Comcast could become too formidable a gatekeeper of the Internet.

“Of course we are disappointed,” Comcast Chief Executive Brian Roberts said during an earnings call early Monday with Wall Street analysts. “It was a unique, one-off situation but really, really we have moved on.”

Roberts declined to dwell on the company’s missed opportunity. He said he had looked forward to bringing his company’s state-of-the-industry products to new markets, including Los Angeles and New York.

“The government ultimately didn’t see it the same way,” he said.

The stinging defeat came in a month when Comcast quietly hit a milestone.

The company now has more than 22 million high-speed Internet customers, surpassing the number of customers that subscribe to its packages of cable TV channels. Comcast added 407,000 Internet customers during the first quarter, which also saw a loss of about 8,000 cable TV subscribers.

Comcast may not be the largest pay-TV operator in the U.S. for much longer. If the federal government approves AT&T’s proposed $49 billion takeover of DirecTV, as expected, that company would hold the distinction of being the biggest pay-TV provider in the nation.

“Our No. 1 focus is to deliver the kind of results we have posted here today, to stay focused and not take our eye off the ball,” Roberts said later on the call.

For the quarter ended March 31, Comcast produced net income of $2.06 billion, or 81 cents a share, compared with $1.87 billion, or 71 cents a share in the year earlier period. Analysts had expected around 74 cents a share.

Revenue was up 2.6 percent to $17.9 billion.

The company also said it was increasing its share buy-back plan this year by $2.5 billion. Comcast plans to buy back $6.75 billion in shares this year.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Business

Black Press Media operates Sound Publishing, the largest community news organization in Washington State with dailies and community news outlets in Alaska.
Black Press Media concludes transition of ownership

Black Press Media, which operates Sound Publishing, completed its sale Monday (March 25), following the formerly announced corporate restructuring.

Maygen Hetherington, executive director of the Historic Downtown Snohomish Association, laughs during an interview in her office on Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024, in Snohomish, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Maygen Hetherington: tireless advocate for the city of Snohomish

Historic Downtown Snohomish Association receives the Opportunity Lives Here award from Economic Alliance.

FILE - Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs poses in front of photos of the 15 people who previously held the office on Nov. 22, 2021, after he was sworn in at the Capitol in Olympia, Wash. Hobbs faces several challengers as he runs for election to the office he was appointed to last fall. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
Secretary of State Steve Hobbs: ‘I wanted to serve my country’

Hobbs, a former Lake Stevens senator, is the recipient of the Henry M. Jackson Award from Economic Alliance Snohomish County.

Mark Duffy poses for a photo in his office at the Mountain Pacific Bank headquarters on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
Mark Duffy: Building a hometown bank; giving kids an opportunity

Mountain Pacific Bank’s founder is the recipient of the Fluke Award from Economic Alliance Snohomish County.

Barb Tolbert poses for a photo at Silver Scoop Ice Cream on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
Barb Tolbert: Former mayor piloted Arlington out of economic brink

Tolbert won the Elson S. Floyd Award, honoring a leader who has “created lasting opportunities” for the underserved.

Photo provided by 
Economic Alliance
Economic Alliance presented one of the Washington Rising Stem Awards to Katie Larios, a senior at Mountlake Terrace High School.
Mountlake Terrace High School senior wins state STEM award

Katie Larios was honored at an Economic Alliance gathering: “A champion for other young women of color in STEM.”

The Westwood Rainier is one of the seven ships in the Westwood line. The ships serve ports in the Pacific Northwest and Northeast Asia. (Photo provided by Swire Shipping)
Westwood Shipping Lines, an Everett mainstay, has new name

The four green-hulled Westwood vessels will keep their names, but the ships will display the Swire Shipping flag.

A Keyport ship docked at Lake Union in Seattle in June 2018. The ship spends most of the year in Alaska harvesting Golden King crab in the Bering Sea. During the summer it ties up for maintenance and repairs at Lake Union. (Keyport LLC)
In crabbers’ turbulent moment, Edmonds seafood processor ‘saved our season’

When a processing plant in Alaska closed, Edmonds-based business Keyport stepped up to solve a “no-win situation.”

Angela Harris, Executive Director of the Port of Edmonds, stands at the port’s marina on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024, in Edmonds, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Leadership, love for the Port of Edmonds got exec the job

Shoring up an aging seawall is the first order of business for Angela Harris, the first woman to lead the Edmonds port.

The Cascade Warbirds fly over Naval Station Everett. (Sue Misao / The Herald file)
Bothell High School senior awarded $2,500 to keep on flying

Cascade Warbirds scholarship helps students 16-21 continue flight training and earn a private pilot’s certificate.

Rachel Gardner, the owner of Musicology Co., a new music boutique record store on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024 in Edmonds, Washington. Musicology Co. will open in February, selling used and new vinyl, CDs and other music-related merchandise. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Edmonds record shop intends to be a ‘destination for every musician’

Rachel Gardner opened Musicology Co. this month, filling a record store gap in Edmonds.

MyMyToyStore.com owner Tom Harrison at his brick and mortar storefront on Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2022 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Burst pipe permanently closes downtown Everett toy store

After a pipe flooded the store, MyMyToystore in downtown Everett closed. Owner Tom Harrison is already on to his next venture.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.