Comcast Profit Rises 64% on Digital TV and Internet Services

[LiviaOlivia]

The New York Times
August 3, 2005
Comcast Profit Rises 64% on Digital TV and Internet Services
By KEN BELSON

The Comcast Corporation, the country's largest cable provider, said yesterday that profits jumped 64 percent in the second quarter, buoyed by demand for digital television and high-speed Internet services.

The company, which has 21.4 million television subscribers, earned $430 million, or 19 cents a share, in the quarter that ended June 30, compared with $262 million, or 12 cents a share, in the same period last year.

~snip~

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/03/business/businessspecial3/03comcast.html

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

1. As a reluctant subscriber to their services, I take this to mean that

my rates are going to go up.

[friesianrider]

2. I just got off the phone with some rude dipshit at Comcast.

He friggin hung up on me when I asked his name after he refused to tell me why my bill had gone up $12. All this after my internet didn't work for 7 out of the last 8 days. I fucking hate Comcast. If you can get Verizon or any other service, GET IT. Comcast is horrible with shitty customer service and shitty service in general.

[high density]

3. Most of the digital TV I've seen looks like shit

...whether it's digital satellite, over the air signals, or digital cable. I'm very annoyed that I'm going to have to put up with compression artifacts for the next forty years, or until whenever the next standard is adopted.

[I_Make_Mistakes]

5. Actually Verizon sux big time

I called to order Verizon after my first try with Comcast and told their rep I wanted the cheapest unlimited local call plan they had. I have a cell phone so, I wanted their service for internet only. I said no special features.

He signed me up for a plan with special features and asked about LD. I said I have a cell I don't need long distance. He said 5 cents a minute, I said ok. I get my bills and there high for local unlimited calls. So I call, they gave me a spiel, I got a plan with special features yada yada yada, because the installation was free.

I asked how much the install fee was? $60 bucks to flip a switch and oh yeah, it was the same approx. difference between the other higher priced plan and what I owed based on the lower plan for the same time period weird, huh?

So, I told them I wanted the lower plan, and paid the differential $60 install. I also told them to pull up the original tape of my account. Did you know that they are allowed to tape us, but we are not allowed to tape them, at least that's what I've been told.

So my cell phone died and I used the long distance. They changed the rate to over 30 cents per minute without ever informing me that it would change. I still haven't dealt with that yet. They defraud their clients and hope we are too busy to notice.

[Voltaire99]

4. Truly they suck...

We subscribe only because they're the only cable game in town. Free enterprise system, you know.

And not only is service spotty and the rates atrocious and the On Demand service likely to be down, but we are subjected to their TV ads bragging that "no wonder Comcast is the fastest growing service in the nation blah blah blah..."

How about a Democratic party that makes these behemoths behave, rather than one that takes their "donations" and looks the other way?

[Nostradammit]

6. Really want to improve your life? Trash your TV altogether -

Not trying to be flippant, but if enough of us quit swallowing their tripe, they'll go away. It's a huge lifestyle change but I can promise that it's likely to be a vast improvement.

Just cut the cable.

[cubschicago]

8. Yeah because Lord knows the Internet is better

Man, I should be in bed.

[Voltaire99]

10. I love the visual arts too much to do that.

You know why I take cable? Simple: HBO.

For one, it's the last place in America where serial drama is an art form for adults. I'm speaking of the brilliant Sopranos and even better Deadwood, both of which are essential for anyone who craves a drama of ideas about American culture. This is simply where it's at now--this is the best use by anyone in America of the medium.

For another, HBO is home to two of the best satirists in English: Tracey Ullman and Larry David.

Much of this has been gradually coming out on DVD and if you haven't discovered it yet, go take a look.

I get some indy film and documentaries from the Sundance channel (they're running Greenwald's Uncovered: The Whole Truth About The Iraq War right now--it's pretty good), along with the French, Canadian, UK and German news.

On Demand is also the shit. Once the libraries expand and Comcast gets its act together, this streaming technology will replace both brick and mortar video rentals as well as Netflix. If you're a cinephile, you want this. I love cinema and being really hard to please this will allow me to tear through the dross to the good stuff faster. The dream is a digital Library of Alexandria of film, all a remote control button away...

Yeah, kill-your-tv is a decent choice for some, but not for me.

[western mass]

11. I hear where you're coming from, but....

after 2 years of rate hikes every 3 months, lousy picture quality, and ever-more-vacuous content, I pulled the plug (actually, I switched to Comcast's super-basic, l2-channel, $10/month option which they'll never admit to having unless you drag it out of them). I couldn't stand to keep feeding the monopoly--the HBO dramas I'd catch in 6 months on dvd.

Now that I'm in England, the £5/month basic digital (widescreen) cable gives me 30 channels whose programming quality puts my previous Comcast zillion-channel (including HBO) package to shame. It's a revelation to realize that TV doesn't have to be a vast wasteland. In addition to plenty of decent quality Brit/Euro content, there's much of the good stuff from across the Atlantic (One can tune in to Deadwood, The Shield, Desperate Housewives, Scrubs...). Best of all...no FOX!

I don't know if it's simply a matter of civilization or the fact that there's a good deal of competition here (cable, satellite, and free digital air broadcasts).

(Brits who chime in that it isn't all that...mate, compared to the US, you don't know how good you have it).

[I_Make_Mistakes]

7. I also forgot

Verizon wanted me to pay an install fee just in case there was an initial problem flipping the switch. I declined because it had only been 4 months testing Comcast that I had my phone service disconnected.

Well, about a month later I had a problem, line, and Verizon wanted $90 per 1/2 to solve the problem. I have returned to Comcast and have not had a problem since. I do hear you the first time, I was out 3 days per month, but that changed as more neighbors went to Comcast.

Good Luck with whoever you go with. In my opinion they all sux and there's nothing we can do about it.

[Deja Q]

9. I ditched their overpriced digital cable a LONG time ago.

Hasn't hurt them at all

[skeptic9]

12. Comcast doesn't hesitate to grab $$ through outright consumer fraud

If you have a "discount" plan, you will get mailings telling you that your plan is being canceled effective on date X, and that you should call Comcast to switch to a higher rate plan.

But if you ignore these notices, as I have several times, nothing happens! You keep the lower rate by ignoring their repeated outright lies.

[bleedingheart]

13. In Pennsylvania, Comcast will interview Republicans on their program

comcast runs a fake news program and this dingdong interviews people like Tim Murphy to find out "what's going on"...I bet Santorum will be on their programs soon enough....

That is what people are paying for...