Comcast adds 823,000 digital cable subscribers in Q2, spurred by FCC deadline

July 31, 2007 – Comcast added a record 823,000 digital cable subscribers in the second quarter of 2007, in anticipation of the Federal Communications Commission’s July 1 deadline for cable boxes with integrated security.

Steve Burke, COO of Comcast and President of Comcast Cable, stated in a conference call announcing quarterly results:  “We decided to buy out the production runs of low-end and advanced set-top boxes so we could install as many boxes as possible before the July 1 deadline.”

Around 441,000 digital customers added advanced services such as high-definition capability and digital video recorders to their package in the second quarter of 2007.  Comcast now has 14mn subscribers to its digital cable service.  Average monthly revenue per video subscriber reached $101 in the period, up around $10 from the same period of 2006.

Comcast added 330,000 high-speed data subscribers in the three months ending June 30, and ended the quarter with 12.4mn subscribers, giving a penetration rate of 26%.

Comcast reported a net profit of $588mn for the second quarter of 2007, compared to $837mn in the same period of 2006.  Revenue reached $7.7bn in the period, up from $7.4bn by the same comparison.