Comcast’s Profit Increases After TV Subscribers Grow

Comcast, the largest US cable company and the owner of NBCUniversal, reported a 26 percent increase in fourth-quarter profit after adding TV subscribers for the first time in more than six years. Comcast marked an important milestone in the period by adding 43,000 television subscribers, ending 26 straight quarters of declines. The company has worked to stem the slide in TV customers as a weak economy and competing offerings from telecommunications firms like Verizon Communications have chipped away at the cable industry. In addition to video subscribers, Comcast added about 379,000 Internet customers and 227,000 phone-service users. NBCUniversal, which includes the NBC broadcast network, cable channels such as USA and MSNBC, and the Universal film studio, generated a 7.5 percent increase in sales to $6.46 billion. NBC led the division’s gains, surging almost 12 percent to $2.23 billion on improved ratings.