Comcast ‘Comfortable in Our Own Footprint’

Comcast will concentrate on the accelerated rollout of X1, its next-gen video platform, and keep its video plans focused on the company's traditional footprint.

“We feel very comfortable in our own footprint,” Neil Smit, president and CEO of Comcast Cable, said on the company’s first quarter earnings call when asked about the operator’s interest and intent to offer an over-the-top video service. “We’ll be focusing there.” And much of that video focus will remain on X1, which accounted for nearly half of video connects in a first quarter in which Comcast lost about 8,000 basic video subscribers. Smit said X1 is seeing a 20 percent to 30 percent lower churn rate than subscribers on Comcast’s legacy video platform, and that VOD usage among X1 customers is 20 percent to 30 percent higher. “Right now, getting X1 rolled out is still the best opportunity at the company in the short run,” Brian Roberts, Comcast Corp.’s chairman and CEO, said.