If you can’t beat them, join them. Comcast is trying to refigure the traditional cable bundle, adding services like Netflix to its subscription packages and offering internet-only TV streaming.
Comcast, the world’s largest cable company, and other cable operators are trying to work out new relationships with once fierce rivals in a changing media landscape.
Comcast and others have been trying to build a business that combines both the “pipes” – the internet services that connect everyone – and the producers of shows, movies, and other video.
FILE- This combo of file photos shows a Netflix logo on an iPhone in Philadelphia on July 17, 2017, bottom, and a Comcast sign on Oct. 12, 2017, in Hialeah, Fla. Comcast is trying to refigure the traditional cable bundle, adding services like Netflix to its subscription packages and offering internet-only TV streaming. The moves come as Comcast, the world’s largest cable company, and other cable operators try to work out relationships with once fierce rivals in a changing media landscape. (AP Photo/File)Cable operators and internet service providers say that business model is key to their survival, given the inroads companies like Google and Apple have made on their turf.
In that environment, Comcast reported a strong first quarter, boosted by $1.6 billion in ad revenue from NBC’s broadcast of the Super Bowl and the Olympics.