Comcast has described the loss of 139,000 broadband subscribers in the fourth quarter as disappointing.
The performance cast a shadow over the success of Wicked for the Sky owner. The movie, at over $700 million at the global box office, has become the highest grossing film based on a Broadway musical.
Comcast Corporation President Mike Cavanagh said competitive conditions within the broadband market “remain intense, dynamic, and varied across our footprint and customer segments” with no immediate prospects of a change. Despite this residential domestic broadband revenue grew 3%.
Comcast is bringing in new pricing and packaging in markets where multi gigabit symmetrical speeds are available. This will bundle wireless and Internet with faster upload speeds and simplified all-in pricing.
Company EBITDA grew 10% to $8.8 billion for the fourth quarter and 1% to $38.1 billion for the full year.
Speaking about the proposed spin-off of its channels business, Cavanagh said the brands concerned were “leaders in genre-based entertainment, sports, and news”. In response to an analyst question, Cavanagh added he would be interested in partnerships or bundling. “We’ll consider anything… but I think the point of it in partnerships is what do you bring to the table and getting our assets very tightly focused around a strong strategy for Peacock, I think, enables us to be a good partner, any partnerships that may or may not come to pass.”
