Comcast Says Skinny Cable Packages Not Way To Go
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - For all the talk about cord-cutting -- where people leave cable behind in favor of online and subscription video -- Comcast has managed to buck the trend.
At a Goldman Sachs investors conference this past week, the cable giant's CEO suggested most customers want more channels, not fewer, and will pay accordingly.
Comcast is "experimenting" with skinny bundles -- a smaller programming package with a slimmer bill -- but, says boss Brian Roberts...
"I don't know that that's really what people want."
Who wouldn't want to pay less? Actually, Roberts says, a decent chunk of skinny bundle subscribers:
"We've seen about 30 percent of them upsell and buy to a fuller package after a period of time."
He gets it -- some people wouldn't be Comcast customers at all but for a low-priced option. Still, the Philly company added 53,000 cable bill-payers in the first quarter of 2016 -- its biggest increase in about a decade -- with most of them on a higher-end package of channels:
"Our focus is to continue to make the bundle more valuable, and keep adding features."
