# Comcast fighting back



## Chris Blount (Jun 22, 2001)

Growing competition spurs strategy of new services, innovation
By Chris Walsh, Rocky Mountain News
July 1, 2004

PHILADELPHIA - The satellite- TV industry has been snatching subscribers from it for years.

The telecommunications industry is gaining ground against it in the war for high- speed Internet customers.

Telephone companies are making moves to compete with it in the television realm.

But Comcast Corp. plans to fight back against growing competition by becoming a leader in innovation and unleashing a host of new services that blend television with the Internet, executives of the nation's largest cable company said Wednesday.

"The future of our business depends on us being as competitive as possible," said Steve Burke, president of Comcast Cable. "We believe that the television industry is going to change more in the next five years than it's changed in the last 30, and we intend to help drive a lot of those changes."

Comcast executives outlined their strategy Wednesday during a media presentation at the cable provider's headquarters in Philadelphia.

The company, which has 21.5 million TV subscribers and 680,000 in Colorado, is banking on a recently enhanced network that allows it to offer a mix of high-end video, telephone and Internet services - a move that's rapidly transforming the once-stagnant cable provider.

*More*


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## Nick (Apr 23, 2002)

> "We believe that the television industry is going to change more in the next five years than it's changed in the last 30, and we intend to help drive a lot of those changes"


Before the advent of DBS, cable had changed very little over the past 30 years, except that cable rates have steadily increased due to the local franchise system which constituted a virtual monoply for the franchise holder.

What advancements cablecos have made over the last ten years and may make in the next five years are directly attributable to increasing competition from satellite tv. Cable subscribers who benefit from such improvements can thank satellite's 20 million subcribers, many of whom are former cable subs.


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## syphix (Jun 23, 2004)

Isn't Comcast Sports channel still on the Dish Network lineup?


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## jrbdmb (Sep 5, 2002)

syphix said:


> Isn't Comcast Sports channel still on the Dish Network lineup?


Comcast Sportsnet has two channels: "Mid-Atlantic" serves the D.C. and Baltimore regions, "Philadelphia" serves the Philadelphia region.

"Mid-Atlantic" is on Dish Network. Comcast refuses to sell the "Philadelphia" channel to to any satellite service, and so far the current FCC rulings on the subject have sided with Comcast.


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## Chris Freeland (Mar 24, 2002)

jrbdmb said:


> Comcast Sportsnet has two channels: "Mid-Atlantic" serves the D.C. and Baltimore regions, "Philadelphia" serves the Philadelphia region.
> 
> "Mid-Atlantic" is on Dish Network. Comcast refuses to sell the "Philadelphia" channel to to any satellite service, and so far the current FCC rulings on the subject have sided with Comcast.


Comcast has 3 or maybe it is 2.5, the other one is Comcast-Charter Sports South East. Like CPhily CSE is cable only at this time, unlike CPhily which is distributed by microwave, it is distributed by satellite so it could be on dbs if D* and E* would pick it up. CSE caries mainly UT sports and no pro sports.


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## durl (Mar 27, 2003)

I do find it interesting that the way cable tries to remain "competetive" is by offering a service that has nothing to do with television programming. The only thing internet access has in common with "cable" is the wire.

In business it all comes down to being able to offer goods and services that the public want and are willing to pay for, so I applaud them for doing what it takes to remain viable. Still, it shows that satellite is winning the war when it comes to providing television networks.


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## Cyclone (Jul 1, 2002)

The only reason that the MidAtlantic is on DBS is that it was already on their as "Home Team Sports" before Comcast bought and renamed them.


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## billpa (Jul 11, 2003)

durl said:


> Still, it shows that satellite is winning the war when it comes to providing television networks.


The only reason I ever considered satellite in the first place is because I love soccer and Comcast took the 'Fox Sports World' channel off my system. I was perfectly happy until then. I don't know what percentage of ex-cable customers I represent, but that basically goes to your point: Give me the channel(s) that I want at a fair price and you'll have me forever.


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## Marvin (Sep 14, 2003)

I would go with Comcast in a heartbeat, at least to get Internet (stuck with a 19.2-24k connection speed) but they keep refusing to expand their lines out this way even though there's been a ton of development out this way in the last 5 years and from where they do serve to here isn't really that great of a distance. I called them up right before I got D* last month and got the same "not economically feasible" response I've gotten every other time I've called them about it.


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## jrbdmb (Sep 5, 2002)

billpa said:


> The only reason I ever considered satellite in the first place is because I love soccer and Comcast took the 'Fox Sports World' channel off my system. I was perfectly happy until then. I don't know what percentage of ex-cable customers I represent, but that basically goes to your point: Give me the channel(s) that I want at a fair price and you'll have me forever.


Ditto here. Comcast (in NJ) dropped both FSW and the Travel Channel in this area. They don't carry the Fox Digital Nets channels. In fact, they don't carry many channels that Comcast has in other parts of the country. If they did, I'm sure I never would have switched to DBS. Of course, I can't imagine switching back now.


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## Nick (Apr 23, 2002)

I keep basic ($42.50/m) cable as a back-up to sat, and for local weather, particularly during hurricane season. What amazes me is that cable, after more than 50 years in the business, still cannot deliver a decent picture.

My local cableco, Adelphia, says they have upgraded their lines, and more recently proclaimed that Jacksonville (FL) locals, some 60 mi away by air, are now coming into the head-end by fiber.

Still, the PQ is, to use a highly technical term, lousy.

Another recent enhancement is preventing local phone subscribers from calling the local Adelphia office. Customers now have to call an '888' number to request service or, like I frequently have to do, to complain about the lousy PQ. I called the 888 number - it took them 21 minutes to answer and take my request for service. I could have driven down to the local Adelphia and back in less time. The 888 # gave me an "all-day" appointment. No one ever showed.

Two days ago, a woman from the local office called to announce that they now have HD channels (6 months behind schedule). I asked her how many and which channels. She listed two Jax locals (ABC, FOX), a couple of movie channels and two demo (?) channels. I told her too little, too late. I had Dish and recently added Voom.

While I had her on the line, I took the opportunity to complain about the lousy PQ, and would she please send someone out to fix the problem. She said she would be happy to schedule me, and then she gave me another all-day appointment for yesterday. I waited all day and no one came, so at 6 pm I left to go have dinner with a friend. When I got home, an Adelphia hang-tag was on the door informing me that a service person had visited at 6:30 pm and found no one at home. Go figure! On the tag was a printed local Adelphia number that I could call to reschedule. I dialed the local number and, as expected, got an intercept msg directing me to call the 888 number.

This recent and very frustrating experience is typical of the mediocre to poor service I have had with various cablecos over the years.



> "Comcast...plans to fight back against growing competition by becoming a leader in innovation and unleashing a host of new services that blend television with the Internet...the future of our business depends on us being as competitive as possible..."


I think cablecos should get their house in order and concentrate on improving their core business - delivering quality multi-channel television signals to millions of subscribers. Until they can do that, I'm not interested in all the bells & whistles.


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## vaxmanid (Jul 3, 2004)

This thread prompted me to look at the local cable company's (Cable One) offerings. A classic case of behind the times despite digging in my yard for ooooooo...fiber optic, without right of way rights (that's another story of arogance). Get HDTV now for only $5 month....Hmmm what does that get me? The same local OTA channels when high def programming is offered that I get on my 811 receiver. That's it folks. No HDNet, DiscoveryHD, ESPNHD, TNT HD or HDMOV nor the option of HD PPV that yes I pay 10 bucks a month for (and well worth it). 

So let me see if I've got this right. I pay you...CableOne more money for less service in your core business. Now you also want me to consider even more money for less secure and possibly slower internet service than my telco supplies (although I'm not in love with them either). As I see it, the same business model you (the cableco) were using nearly 7 years ago when I cut the cable still applies. Pay more for less. At this rate the DBS companies have nothing to worry about. Nothing has changed in the last 7 years I've witnessed....execpt continued escalating cable rates.


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## Van (May 4, 2004)

The only way that theyre able to dump so much money into this is because of rate hikes like the $14 one that took place in feb of this year. Comcast has the highest profit margin of any cable service provider in the world making them the envy of all other cable service providers around. If they really want to be competitive then they should drop theyre rates $25 to start with.


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## pez2002 (Dec 13, 2002)

. If they really want to be competitive then they should drop theyre rates $25 to start with.[/QUOTE]

Never gonna happen :nono2:


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## Steveox (Apr 21, 2004)

The day i go to comcast when they get total sports packages like the NFL,MLB,NBA,NHL and college sports. And cut that god damn local tax bull**** fee. Thats when im going back to cable.


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## SamC (Jan 20, 2003)

Cyclone said:


> The only reason that the MidAtlantic is on DBS is that it was already on their as "Home Team Sports" before Comcast bought and renamed them.


Not exactly. Federal law requires that any channel distributed via sat (BUD) be made available for subscription to sat customers. In Philadelphia, Comcast owns 90% of the cable territory, and the territory is geographically small (south NJ, eastern PA, norther DE) and flat. So Comcast distributes the CSN-P signal via microwave, thus fitting through the loophole. In Baltimore/Washington, Comcast does not own most of the cable territory, and other cable companies are not going to pay the extra costs of a microwave downlink just to keep CSN-MA off the dishes. And the territory is much larger, with the entire states of Maryland and Virginia, and parts of West Virginia, Delaware, and North Carolina (and DC, of course). And very mountainous. Delivering a microwave signal over the eastern continental divide into the Ohio and Tennessee vallies in southwest Virginia or even up into the Potomac or Chesepeake highlands of VA and WV is just cost prohibitive. It really has nothing to do with it having been on DBS before Comcast bought it.

As to the article in geneal. Cable still is grossly inferior to sat. It it currently in a "competitive mode" where it is trying to move from being a big inflexable take-it or leave-it utility, to something closer to DBS. Going from being 5% of DBS to being 15% of DBS.

If a market has local channels, and 92% of them do, why would ANYBODY go with cable?

And like every such article, it compares the best cable system, generally available to a few in the lucky suburbs, while DBS is universal. The cable in rural America, and in the poorer parts of a urban area, is far different.


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## SnowFade (Jul 5, 2004)

Yeah it is...

I first got DirecTV while living in Marshall, MI, a podunk little town in the central lower peninsula. Our cable at the time would go out for hours at a time during sunny weather, to say nothing of when we had storms. Plus, the "local" office was 45 minutes away in a different city.

We had no idea how bad the picture quality was until we had gotten our dish and then a tree branched out in front of our sightline to the 119 satellite (we lived in an apartment complex that was unwilling to trim it) and had to get the stripped-down network-only cable package. The installer came, set it up, and couldn't believe what a nice picture we got. I looked at him and showed him the PQ on a satellite channel, told him about the pricing and almost sold him a dish on the spot. The only downside to D* was that we lived in Pegasus territory.

Now, we own a house in a somewhat larger city (outside of Pegasus Purgatory, thank God). I have Internet access through the local cableco (Charter) and have checked out their channel offers. I'd still have to pay at least $10 more a month to even approximate my setup/package, and that's not counting the TiVo that I'd have to buy and pay the service charge for. Plus, they don't have the Sunday Ticket NFL package, a deal breaker for me, and I'd have to train my lazy mind to dozens of new channel numbers. And I'll take periodic , predictable rain fade over "Um, we know there is a signal problem in your area and we have a crew working on it. No, I don't know when." any day.

Back to cable? Maybe when they pry my dish from my cold, dead hands.


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## C*Tedesco (Jan 31, 2004)

I'm in the process of moving and will be settled by the end of this month. I'm also considering moving back to Comcast for their local channels that will provide some programs in HD. Also I will be getting their high speed Internet. 

I'm having a tough decision to make the swith-back. On one hand, I think they have better offerings when it comes to HD. (HD looks great with Comcast)However their SD channels still look like crap. Not sure what I'm going to do...


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## robfwb (Jul 11, 2004)

I woudn't even give Comcast the time of day. Especially with what they did with tech tv. if standard channels look like crap stick with dish. dish is launching some new HD (i think there merging with voom)

Rob

http://www.robfwb.com


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## SimpleSimon (Jan 15, 2004)

I hate cable myself, but you're NOT going to see locals in HD via satellite for many years, if ever.

As for a E* V* merger, that's not even a credible rumor - it's just a wish.


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## C*Tedesco (Jan 31, 2004)

Well, I might be swaying back to Dish. I was visiting my new home to take measurements on things, when I noticed a big OTA Antenna on the roof. Yeeehaww!!

But, here are my problems. My back yard has alot of trees, so I'm worried about reception. The dish would have to point that direction. 

Also, I'm not liking the 50 dollars I have to pay to put a new dish up. That's sux. Anyway, I'll see in a bit what I'm going to do.


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## Marvin (Sep 14, 2003)

I was reading on Fatwallet (a deal discussion forum) that people have been getting door tags with an offer from Comcast -



> Digital Classic Cable w/HBO & HSI $49.99mo 1 yr
> 800.835.5443
> 
> PROMO CODE: GSL 0706
> ...


The person who posted it is in Detroit. The phone # goes to someones voicemail box.

$50 a month for Digital Cable w/ HBO and Cable internet for a year is pretty rediculous although I know they've run promos that probably match that all the time.


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## Chris Freeland (Mar 24, 2002)

Marvin said:


> I was reading on Fatwallet (a deal discussion forum) that people have been getting door tags with an offer from Comcast -
> 
> The person who posted it is in Detroit. The phone # goes to someones voicemail box.
> 
> $50 a month for Digital Cable w/ HBO and Cable internet for a year is pretty rediculous although I know they've run promos that probably match that all the time.


Thats not a good deal, in this area Digital Classic w/HBO is more like AT120 w/ locals & HBO. You can get AT120VP w/locals which includes both HBO and Cinamax for $56.99 or without locals for $51.99. And that is E* regular price and not some short term special to get you hooked.


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## Mike123abc (Jul 19, 2002)

Chris Freeland said:


> Thats not a good deal, in this area Digital Classic w/HBO is more like AT120 w/ locals & HBO. You can get AT120VP w/locals which includes both HBO and Cinamax for $56.99 or without locals for $51.99. And that is E* regular price and not some short term special to get you hooked.


But the E* deal does not include cable internet that alone costs close to $50.


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## Jacob S (Apr 14, 2002)

The cable internet is what CLINCHES the deal.


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## Chris Freeland (Mar 24, 2002)

Mike123abc said:


> But the E* deal does not include cable internet that alone costs close to $50.


Oops, I missed the part about the internet being included, your correct that changes things. Bundled Internet is one advantage that cable does have.


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