Latest news with #MikeCavanagh
Miami Herald
4 days ago
- Business
- Miami Herald
How Comcast is trying to turn around its internet customer exodus
Comcast, the Philadelphia-born media giant with roots in cable television, for years has been losing more cable customers than it's been adding. And more recently, with leaders citing "a highly competitive environment," it's also lost broadband internet customers. So this year, the company set in motion multiple new strategies to court consumers. In the broadband and mobile businesses, that meant offering a national pricing structure, five-year price guarantees, a free mobile line for a year, and unlimited data packages for mobile customers. The company also honed in on customer service, making it possible to buy products in fewer steps, and using Google AI to manage customer interactions, Comcast president Mike Cavanagh said in a quarterly earnings call late last month. He boasted "more than a 20% improvement in purchase conversion rates." Comcast isn't facing a unique challenge. Cable on the whole is "in terminal decline" across operators, said consumer technology industry analyst Avi Greengart, but broadband "was propping them up." Now, he said, "that is also starting to decline due to higher competition, particularly from fixed wireless." "Comcast is trying to find a route that protects themselves from that," Greengart said. Despite the customer losses in the most recent quarter, leaders at Comcast, which has 14,000 employees in the Philadelphia region and 8,500 at its Center City headquarters, were upbeat about the future of their internet business. "Our goal for all the actions we've taken is to build a loyal customer base that churns less and values our services more," Cavanagh said. "Customers are responding to the simplicity and power of these changes, with roughly half of our eligible new customer connects choosing our five-year price guarantee this quarter." Comcast is also unlike the others in cable and internet, thanks to additional business segments like theme parks and movie studios. Those aren't easy businesses, Greengart said, but they're "hit-driven" and currently benefiting from a new movie and Orlando theme park. And more changes taking place in rapid succession. Within one week in July, Comcast made several significant announcements: a partnership with T-Mobile to bring wireless services to more business customers; the board members for its upcoming spinoff of several media brands including USA Network, CNBC, MSNBC, and E!; and the launch of Stream Store, where its cable and internet customers can buy cheap streaming service bundles. "There are a lot of moving pieces at Comcast at the moment‚" wrote Craig Moffett, a telecom-industry analyst who has watched Comcast for years, in his take on the company's quarterly earnings report. "But most of those pieces are moving in the right direction." These moves line up with a growth strategy that pulls away from cable, with internet as the linchpin. Which Comcast services are growing? Comcast reported 201,000 fewer residential broadband customers in its most recent quarter, making for 594,000 fewer over the course of one year. Still, those numbers are a small percentage of the whole. More than 31.5 million U.S. homes and businesses get their broadband internet from Comcast and it remains the largest home internet provider in the country. The company has been betting on growth in that demand, pointing to entertainment as the reason for a majority of internet use. The mobile phone business gained customers - 378,000 more in the second quarter, driven in part by that free line offer. That customer base is still smaller than internet and even cable, with about 8.5 million total wireless lines. With the recently announced T-Mobile deal, which targets business users, the number of wireless users seems poised to grow more when that takes effect next year. (Comcast's residential wireless services use Verizon's network.) Wireless is a competitive space, too, Greengart acknowledged, "but this is an area that really fits with the cable operators' existing business models." Comcast doesn't have to operate the wireless networks but already has access to a large customer base, he said. And when customers' devices are set to switch data use from mobile networks to WiFi when available, the cost to Comcast becomes lower. Cable, meanwhile, continues to drop off. That customer base shrunk by 751,000 in the first half of 2025, dipping below 12 million. In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said those declines are expected to continue. "There was a time when Comcast's media business was considered a drag on their consolidated results" Moffett wrote. "Well … today, media might still be viewed as a challenged business, but it is almost certainly viewed as being preferable to cable. Anything is viewed as preferable to cable." A future without cable is conceivable, Greengart said, if it becomes too costly for providers to justify. Despite the decline, Comcast still brings cable into about 11.7 million homes. Selling pro-basketball and family vacations When talking about Comcast's "core six growth drivers" in the quarterly earnings call, CFO Jason Armstrong did not mention cable. But that's not to say Comcast is stepping back from the business of bringing moving pictures to TV screens. In addition to broadband, wireless, and business services, Armstrong listed three other "growth" areas: parks, streaming, and studios. Those three still bring in much less revenue than the cable and internet businesses. But they've made splashy moves. The Peacock streaming service isn't yet profitable, but it's getting closer and will be adding NBA games to its menu in the fall. And with its newest theme park, Epic Universe in Orlando, the company is building out what Cavanagh called "a true weeklong destination" to compete with the nearby Disney resort. "Not many companies on the planet could take the decade it took to build maybe the finest theme park in the world," CEO Brian Roberts said on the recent earnings call. Those six "growth" businesses now bring in nearly 60% of Comcast's revenue, Roberts noted. That will increase to about 65% after the company spins off its cable network entities into a separate company, Versant. If trends continue, Roberts predicted, those six segments will eventually make up 70% of Comcast's revenue within a few years. "We're pivoting; our products are exciting," Roberts said. "And the way we tell that story to the consumer with some of the team that we're assembling, I think you're going to see that really resonate." Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
Travel Weekly
31-07-2025
- Business
- Travel Weekly
Epic Universe spurs double-digit growth for Comcast in Q2
Epic Universe is driving higher spending and attendance throughout the Universal Orlando Resort following its May opening, executives from parent company Comcast said Thursday on an earnings call. The park drove a 19% increase in revenue for theme parks at Comcast, totaling $2.35 billion. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortization was up 4%, limited due to soft-opening costs, CFO Jason Armstrong said. "We are extremely proud of the successful opening of Epic Universe in May," said Comcast president Mike Cavanagh. "We're pleased with the early results as Epic is already driving higher per-cap spending and attendance across the entirety of Universal Orlando Resort, with strong food and merchandise sales and minimal impact on attendance at Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure." According to Cavanagh, Universal's near-term focus is on expanding ride throughput to get guests onto attractions more quickly. That will help Universal shed the capacity constraints initially placed on Epic (Universal's ticketing strategy for the park was designed to manage capacity). Armstrong said he expects the park to increase attendance as the year goes on with "significantly improved operating leverage." "We're really happy with the consumer response," the CFO said. "We're pleased with how Epic is contributing to the overall Universal Orlando guest experience and performance." Cavanagh noted that both Universal and its main competitor in the Orlando market, Disney, continue to invest heavily in their parks, which should benefit the entire market. In the second quarter, Universal's international parks performed strongly in the quarter, but Universal Hollywood faced pressures, Armstrong said. Coming soon Universal is gearing up for another launch in a couple of weeks: Universal Horror Unleashed in Las Vegas, opening Aug. 14. Cavanagh also said Universal is developing a second year-round horror experience, in Chicago. Further, its Universal Kids Resort is on track to open next year in Texas, and its theme park outside London is scheduled to open in 2031. "These projects reflect our long-term strategy to expand reach, enter new markets and broaden the appeal of our parks portfolio," he said.
Yahoo
31-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Comcast Awaits NBA Boost as Peackock Losses Hit $10 Billion
A seasonal dearth of live sports content contributed to a mixed bag for Comcast's streaming service, as Peacock subscribers remained flat at 41 million, while losses narrowed to $101 million in the second quarter of 2025. While that marked a not-insignificant improvement compared to the $348 million hit the platform took in the year-ago period, Comcast's latest results pushed Peacock's cumulative losses past the $10 billion DTC service boosted revenue by 18% to $1.2 billion in the April-June period, and Comcast executives on this morning's earnings call said they were confident that NBC Sports' new NBA rights package will drive subscriber growth at the unit. Two weeks ago Peacock upped the monthly fees for both its ad-supported and commercial-free plans by $3 per month.'The impact of this price increase, combined with [our] strong upfront results … helped position us as we launch the NBA,' said Comcast president Mike Cavanagh, who went on to note that the league's return to NBC will trigger 'higher sports programming expenses' in the fourth quarter and beyond. NBC's 11-year pact with the league will cost it $2.45 billion per season, although the company believes that the positive impact on advertising revenue and Peacock sign-ups should go a long way toward diluting those the sleepy sports calendar did its usual job of throttling Peacock's momentum on the customer-acquisition front, the losses at Comcast's legacy cable unit were similarly predictable. The operator ended the quarter with 11.8 million video customers, which marked a sequential loss of 325,000 hook-ups and a year-over-year defection of 1.43 million subs. Over the past 12 months Comcast has lost another 11% of its pay-TV base to the ravages of cord-cutting, a churn rate that was only slightly less vertiginous than the 12% hit the company took in Q2 defections have really piled up in recent years, with Comcast shedding 3.21 million video customers, or 21% of its base, since the analogous period in 2023, while nearly one-third (31%) of its subs have dropped the bundle in the last 36 months. Five years ago at this time, Comcast had 20.4 million video customers; since then, 8.6 million have ditched their traditional cable reported its latest round of cable losses just days after Charter managed to reduce its own quarterly churn rate to -5%. Media revenue rose 2% to $6.44 billion, as Peacock's intake helped offset the impact of a 7% decline on the domestic advertising front. Sales at the stateside media channels were down $143 million from the year-ago period, to $1.85 closed out its 2025-26 upfront cycle with what it characterized as 'record' advanced commitments from advertisers, with the new NBA inventory contributing to a 20% boost in new clients. The media unit saw unprecedented demand in this year's bazaar, as marketers scrambled to stake out a claim in NBC's sports portfolio, which in the next year alone will feature the Super Bowl, the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics and the FIFA World Cup on the Spanish-language outlet Telemundo. Comcast said Thursday that Peacock sales represented over one-third of the company's upfront dollar in the call, Comcast reiterated that the spinoff of the Versant cable channels should wrap by the end of this year or the start of 2026. The Versant transaction cost the parent company $110 million on the quarter. Meanwhile, executives were characteristically mum on the recent chatter that Comcast is considering the launch of a new cable channel devoted to sports—a development that's begun brewing just four years after NBCSN was shuttered. While the idea is in the larval stage, the upshot is that the new entity would serve as a means for NBCU to simulcast live sports that are otherwise exclusive to the broadband front, Comcast lost 226,000 domestic internet subscribers in the quarter, besting consensus forecasts of -257,000. Overall revenue at the Philadelphia-based media giant increased 2% to $30.3 billion, ahead of forecasts for $29.8 billion, while adjusted earnings per share improved 3% to $1.25, topping projections for $ grew 1% to $10.3 billion. More from Deflated Balls Artist Sues Pelicans Over Instagram Posts Sporticast 471: The NBA's European Expansion Is Starting to Take Shape Adam Silver Meeting With Potential Backers of European League Best of Most Expensive Sports Memorabilia and Collectibles in History The 100 Most Valuable Sports Teams in the World NFL Private Equity Ownership Rules: PE Can Now Own Stakes in Teams Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Comcast Revenue Slips to $29.9 Billion in First Quarter on Continued Broadband, Pay TV Subscriber Losses
Comcast on Thursday beat Wall Street expectations for its first quarter. But the media conglomerate's total revenue fell 0.6% to $29.89 billion and profits fell 12.5% to $3.86 billion as it shed 199,000 broadband subscribers due to heightened competition and 427,000 video customers from continued cord-cutting. Also contributing to the decline was a 6% drop in domestic advertising revenue in its media business, from lower revenue at its linear networks; a 13% drop in theatrical revenue because of lower revenue from its releases in the quarter compared to the prior year period; and a 5.2% decline in theme parks revenue attributed to lower attendance and the impacts of the Hollywood wildfires on its domestic theme parks and $100 million in pre-opening costs for Epic Universe. Meanwhile, its mobile business was a bright spot, adding 323,000 lines. Peacock also continued to make progress during the quarter, growing revenue 16% to $1.2 billion and adding 5 million paid subscribers for a total of 41 million, primarily driven by its bundle with Charter Communications. But the streaming service remains unprofitable, narrowing its loss to $215 million, compared to a loss of $639 million in the prior year period. 'While we don't see any noteworthy evidence of economic challenges for the year thus far, the odds have increased that challenges may be approaching, but we are well positioned to handle whatever lies ahead,' Comcast President Mike Cavanagh told analysts on Thursday. The latest quarterly results come as Comcast is preparing to spin off its cable network portfolio into a publicly traded, standalone company. The move is expected to be completed by the end of the year and will be tax-free to Comcast's shareholders. The entity, currently dubbed SpinCo, will house USA Network, CNBC, MSNBC, Oxygen, E!, SYFY and Golf Channel as well as digital assets Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, GolfNow and SportsEngine, reaching 70 million U.S. households and generating $7 billion in annual revenue. Comcast executives on Thursday offered few new details on the spin-off, including the timing of the move. Here are quick-take results from Comcast's earnings: Net income: $3.86 billion, down 12.5% year over year. On an adjusted basis, net income fell 0.9% to $4.17 billion. Earnings per share: 89 cents per share, down 7.7% year over year. On an adjusted basis, EPS came in at $1.09 cents per share, up 4.5% year over year, compared to 98 cents per share expected by analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research. Revenue: $29.89 billion, down 0.6% year over year, compared to $29.68 billion expected by Zacks. Comcast shares fell 4% during Thursday's trading session following the results. Comcast ended the quarter with a total of 51.4 million customers in its connectivity and platforms business, including 12.1 million video customers, 8.15 million wireless customers and 31.64 million broadband customers. 'In this intensely competitive environment, we are not winning in the marketplace in a way that is commensurate with the strength of the network and connectivity products,' Cavanagh said. 'Dave [Watson] and his team have worked hard to understand the reasons for this disconnect, and have identified two primary causes, one is price transparency and predictability, and the other is the level of ease of doing business with us. The good news is that both are fixable, and we are already underway with execution plans to address these challenges.' The company previously said it would focus on upgrading its broadband network and WiFi network capabilities to boost speeds for its customers, which would include incorporating artificial intelligence, as well as introduce new bundle packaging and pricing. Despite the broadband subscriber losses, the segment's revenue rose 1.7% to $6.56 billion. Wireless revenue climbed 15.6% to $1.12 billion. Video revenue fell 5.4% to $6.72 billion and advertising revenue for the residential connectivity and platforms segment fell 7.4% to $881 million. Overall, the connectivity and platforms segment's revenue fell 0.7% to $20.14 billion and profit grew 1.5% to $8.34 billion. While Peacock saw positive momentum during the quarter, the overall media segment, which comprises Peacock, grew revenue just 1.1% to $6.44 billion. The unit's revenue was dragged down by a 6.8% decrease in domestic advertising revenue to $1.89 billion, primarily due to lower revenue at the company's linear networks. But profits for the media segment jumped 21.5% to $1 billion due to lower operating expenses from lower sports programming volume and costs at Peacock compared to the prior year period, offset by higher content costs at its entertainment linear networks and an increase in sports costs for its international networks. Domestic distribution revenue grew 0.6% to $2.92 billion, reflecting higher revenue at Peacock, offset by the lower revenue at its networks. International networks revenue grew 13.9% to $1.16 billion, primarily due to increased revenue from the distribution of its sports networks. Looking ahead, Cavanagh touted Peacock's upcoming NBA games in the second half of the year as a key driver to help scale the streamer's subscriber base and trim its losses over time. He also said the company remains open to considering streaming bundles and partnerships. 'While we have not yet seen any impacts from the current macroeconomic uncertainty, advertising is the category that has shown the most economic related cyclicality in our business historically,' Comcast chief financial officer Jason Armstrong added. 'However, for the upfront and for the balance of the year, we feel well positioned in the market as we capitalize on the NBA launching in the fourth quarter, a healthy Peacock subscriber base and a strong content offering across entertainment and news.' The studios business saw revenue grow 3% to $2.83 billion, driven by a 3.5% increase in content licensing revenue to $2.17 billion and a 17.5% increase in 'other' revenue to $366 million, primarily due to digital sales of 'Wicked.' But theatrical revenue dropped 13% to $286 million, primarily due to higher revenue from 'Kung Fu Panda 4' and 'Migration' in the prior year period, compared to releases in the current quarter, including 'Dog Man,' as well as the carryover benefit of 'Wicked' and 'Nosferatu.' Looking ahead, Universal will release 'How to Train Your Dragon' on June 13, followed by 'Jurassic World: Rebirth' on July 2. Overall, the segment saw profits grow 22.3% during the quarter, due to the higher revenue offsetting higher operating expenses. Programming and production expenses increased, mainly driven by higher costs associated with content licensing sales compared to the prior year period. Marketing and promotion expenses decreased due to the timing of spending on recent and upcoming theatrical film releases. Comcast's theme parks business saw revenue tumble 5.2% to $1.88 billion in the first quarter, due to lower revenue at its domestic theme parks driven by lower attendance and the impact of the Hollywood wildfires. Profit for the segment fell 32% to $429 million due to the lower revenue and higher operating expenses, including around $100 million of pre-opening costs for Epic Universe, which will open in May. 'We have seen strong demand since launching Epic ticket sales in the fourth quarter of 2024 and the most recent reaction to early previews has been nothing short of phenomenal,' Cavanagh said. 'Looking past these pre opening costs, underlying results in the quarter indicated stable trends in Orlando, giving us confidence that we are entering the Epic launch from a position of strength.' He added that international parks performance remains strong, but cited a 'softness' at Universal Hollywood due to the fires, adding it expects a 'gradual' recovery. In addition to Epic, the company will open Universal Horror Unleashed, its first permanent year-round horror entertainment experience in Las Vegas in August, as well as its first ever Universal Kids resort in Frisco, Texas, in 2026. It also plans to build its first Universal theme park and resort in the United Kingdom, with construction starting in 2026 and a grand opening scheduled for 2031. The post Comcast Revenue Slips to $29.9 Billion in First Quarter on Continued Broadband, Pay TV Subscriber Losses appeared first on TheWrap. Sign in to access your portfolio
CNA
24-04-2025
- Business
- CNA
Comcast sheds more broadband subscribers as wireless carriers ramp up bundled plans
Comcast reported a larger-than-expected quarterly decline in broadband customers on Thursday, hit by intense competition from wireless carriers bundling mobile services with high-speed internet plans, sending its shares down 6 per cent. Broadband customers decreased by 199,000 in the first quarter, higher than the 139,000 losses Comcast reported in the last three months of 2024. FactSet analysts had expected the company to shed 146,100 broadband customers. The competitive environment remains intense in broadband with wireless carriers marketing their plans aggressively, Comcast said. The media giant responded in mid-April with new pricing plans along with five-year price locks for new broadband customers to stem the churn in its Xfinity Internet service. "Comcast's new plans will undoubtedly improve on the results they reported this morning. However, it looks like broadband market growth is just slower than it has been, and competition in a slowing market is tough," New Street Research analyst Jonathan Chaplin said. Comcast is awaiting the launch of its "Epic Universe" theme park next month in Orlando, Florida, to lift demand for the business. "Ticket sales and advance plans for Epic Universe are a little ahead of our expectations," Comcast President Mike Cavanagh said. Revenue at the theme park business fell 5.2 per cent to $1.88 billion in the first quarter, as the Los Angeles wildfires in January impacted several services in Hollywood. Studio revenue rose 3 per cent to $2.83 billion, helped by the success of films "Wicked" and "Nosferatu" released in the fourth quarter. Streaming service Peacock reported an adjusted core loss of $215 million, narrower than $639 million reported a year earlier. Total paid subscribers at Peacock rose to 41 million, compared with 36 million at the end of last year, helped by its distribution deal with Charter Communications last year. Total revenue of $29.89 billion beat estimates of $29.77 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
