A view from the back of a Comcast truck parked on a residential street in Lafayette, California, on September 28, 2021.
Smith Collection/Gado | Archive Photos | Getty Images
comcast Cable CEO Dave Watson said Monday that the company expects to lose more than 100,000 broadband subscribers during the fourth quarter as the market remains “competitive.” I told the house.
Comcast shares fell nearly 10% following Watson’s remarks at the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference on Monday.
Cable broadband growth continues to be sluggish. Executives also blamed the slowdown on home buying and selling, although they noted that fewer people are subscribing to cable TV when acquiring new homes. , also points out that competition is increasing from wireless providers such as: verizon and T-Mobile also plays a major role.
“Our competition remains intense. That hasn’t changed. It’s been pretty stable over the year,” Watson said Monday, especially among “price-conscious” consumers.
Watson noted that the fourth quarter will likely mirror the first half of this year, when the company lost “just under 100,000” customers per quarter.
Despite continued cable trends, Comcast’s broadband business is stable when it comes to high-end Internet packages, Watson added.
His warning comes after a relatively improved third quarter for Comcast’s losses.
In October, the company announced that its domestic broadband net loss totaled 87,000 connections in the third quarter. But excluding losses stemming from the end of the government’s Affordable Connectivity program, which offered discounts to eligible low-income households, the company estimated it added 9,000 customers.
Comcast had approximately 32 million domestic broadband customers as of September 30th.
Watson said Monday that the third-quarter improvement was due to seasonality. Returning to school often means improved broadband numbers. He also pointed to NBCUniversal’s marketing of the Summer Olympics as helping.
Disclosure: Comcast owns NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC. NBCUniversal owns NBC Sports and NBC Olympics. NBC Olympics is the U.S. broadcast rights holder for all Summer and Winter Olympics through 2032.
