Comcast's cable revenue increased 12% to $7.0 billion for the first quarter of 2007 reflecting increasing consumer demand for its Comcast Triple Play package. Revenue generating unit (RGU) additions increased 63% to a record 1.8 million in the first quarter of 2007 compared to 1.1 million additions in the same quarter of 2006. Comcast ended the first quarter of 2007 with 52.6 million RGUs.
Some highlights for the quarter:
- Added 644,000 new digital cable subscribers in the first quarter of 2007 - highest level of quarterly additions in Company history and the 3rd consecutive quarter of accelerating digital subscriber growth
- Video revenue increased 8% to $4.4 billion in the first quarter of 2007, reflecting growth in digital cable customers and increased demand for new digital features including ON DEMAND, digital video recorders (DVR) and HDTV programming (HDTV), as well as higher basic cable pricing.
- Basic cable subscribers increased by 75,000 to 24.2 million during the first quarter of 2007 with 13.3 million or 55% of video customers taking digital cable services.
- Comcast added 644,000 digital cable customers in the first quarter of 2007, an increase of 82% from the 355,000 digital cable customers added in the same period one year ago. The digital cable customer additions in the first quarter of 2007 include 337,000 digital cable and 307,000 digital starter subscribers.
- During the quarter, 535,000 digital cable customers added advanced services, like DVR and HDTV, to their digital service either by upgrading or as new customers. This compares to 310,000 additions in the same quarter one year ago.
- Pay-per-view revenue increased 26% to $181 million in the first quarter of 2007 driven by increasing ON DEMAND movie purchases. Pay-per-view revenue has increased more than 20% on average over each of the past nine quarters.
- Added 563,000 high-speed Internet subscribers during the first quarter -- highest level of quarterly additions in company history
- High-speed Internet revenues increased 21% to $1.5 billion in the first quarter of 2007, reflecting a 1.9 million or 19% increase in subscribers from the prior year and stable average monthly revenue per subscriber of approximately $43. Comcast ended the first quarter of 2007 with 12.1 million high-speed Internet subscribers or 26% penetration of available homes.
- Added 571,000 Comcast Digital Voice (CDV) customers during the quarter - nearly 2.5 times more than the 232,000 customers added in the same period of the prior year
- CDV service now marketed to 35 million homes representing 73% of Comcast's footprint
- Phone revenue increased 88% to $353 million in the first quarter of 2007 reflecting a $216 million increase in CDV revenues from the prior year as a result of the significant growth in CDV subscribers. The increase in phone revenue was partially offset by a $50 million or 38% decline in circuit- switched phone revenues as Comcast focuses on marketing CDV in most markets. Comcast ended the first quarter of 2007 with 2.4 million CDV customers or 7% of available homes.
- Advertising revenue decreased 3% to $313 million in the first quarter of 2007, due primarily to the impact of 12 broadcast weeks in the current quarter compared to 13 weeks in the same period of the prior year.
- Capital expenditures totaled $1.4 billion in the first quarter of 2007, driven by a 63% increase in RGU additions and include approximately $70 million related to network improvements and integration of the newly acquired cable systems from Adelphia and Time Warner. Consistent with historical trends, approximately 75% of cable capital expenditures in the first quarter of 2007 were variable and directly associated with demand for new products.
