Comcast Innovating Broadband and Cable Services, ‘Bullish’ on NBCUniversal, CEO Roberts Says

Broadband is the fastest-growing segment of Comcast’s business, but innovation will change Comcast’s traditional cable base “more in the next five years than it has in the past 50,” Comcast CEO Brian Roberts told the Washington Economic Club Thursday. When Microsoft invested $1 billion in Comcast in 1997, Roberts said Bill Gates told him then that Comcast’s business would expand far beyond delivering TV service. That prediction has held true, Roberts said. Comcast has about 22 million video customers and 20 million broadband customers, he said. “Those lines will cross some time in the next couple of years and we will have just as many -- if not more -- broadband customers than we have video customers,” he said. Comcast faces a “different broadband every year,” he said. “We change the speeds, the nature of it, so Wi-Fi is now … part of our definition of broadband. So we want to have the fastest Wi-Fi as well as the fastest pipe. We want to offer you access outside of your home."

Comcast will showcase a new version of its cloud-based program guide at the Cable Show in June, Roberts said. The first version of the guide, X1, is being rolled out market by market and has been very popular with subscribers, he said. The program guide, which includes some voice control features and improved search, is designed to make it easier for viewers to find programming they want to watch, he said.

The cable industry’s increased innovation came as a result of increased competition from outside players, and so have its efforts to improve service, Roberts said. “If we don’t give a great service experience, you have so many choices -- you're going to leave us,” he said. “And people do leave us.” Comcast has seen its sales improve over the last seven quarters -- something Roberts attributes to improving service. While the company’s service quality is “nowhere near” where Roberts said he'd like it to be, it has improved substantially, he said.

Roberts is “bullish” about Comcast’s move toward full control of NBCUniversal, he said. While Comcast’s move into the business of creating content is “not easy, it’s not perfect,” Roberts said NBCUniversal has it “pretty close to just right, right now.” Bob Greenblatt, NBCUniversal’s chairman of entertainment, is a “super person in picking shows,” Roberts said. “He’s going to get grief when it fails and praise when it succeeds. … That’s the nature of the content business.” He declined to comment on reports that NBCUniversal is preparing “Late Night” host Jimmy Fallon to replace “Tonight Show” host Jay Leno. “There’s a lot of people issues and you keep that stuff confidential,” he said.

Roberts said he wouldn’t rule out a career in public service, but added that “I'm not sure I'd be best at that,” he said. “I do think we can make a great difference with the company and platform that we've got.”