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Despite ratings drop, Olympics boosts Comcast in 3Q

FILE - This June 11, 2013, file photo, shows the Comcast Corp. logo during The Cable Show 2013 convention in Washington. Comcast reports financial results Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2016. Comcast’s marriage with NBCUniversal foreshadows what can come from the kind of “vertical integration” that AT&T and Time Warner are attempting. There are potential marketplace and consumer harms, but also benefits to advertisers and subscribers. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
FILE - This June 11, 2013, file photo, shows the Comcast Corp. logo during The Cable Show 2013 convention in Washington. Comcast reports financial results Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2016. Comcast’s marriage with NBCUniversal foreshadows what can come from the kind of “vertical integration” that AT&T and Time Warner are attempting. There are potential marketplace and consumer harms, but also benefits to advertisers and subscribers. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File) FILE - This June 11, 2013, file photo, shows the Comcast Corp. logo during The Cable Show 2013 convention in Washington. Comcast reports financial results Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2016. Comcast’s marriage with NBCUniversal foreshadows what can come from the kind of “vertical integration” that AT&T and Time Warner are attempting. There are potential marketplace and consumer harms, but also benefits to advertisers and subscribers. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

NEW YORK (AP) – Comcast’s profit rose 12 percent in the July-September quarter thanks to the Olympics and the first third-quarter gains in video subscribers in a decade.

NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke has said that the company made over $250 million in Rio as ad sales rose, even though Olympics ratings fell 16 percent in prime-time on NBC from the London Olympics. Ratings were down 9 percent if viewers watching on NBCUniversal’s cable channels and digital were added.

The cable giant has been winning back video subscribers despite an overall drop in the number of people who pay for traditional TV.

Overall, Comcast net income climbed to $2.24 million from $2 billion in the same period a year ago. Revenue increased 14 percent to $21.32 billion.