Comcast Sees April Streaming Launch, Another Broadband Growth Year

NBCUniversal's streaming service is aiming for April launch, with The Office -- which generates 5 percent of Netflix's traffic but that Netflix is losing -- a tentpole for the platform, NBCU CEO Stephen Burke said Thursday as Comcast announced Q2 results. He said the service will have some original programming, but NBCU expects the "vast majority" of its viewership to come for its acquired rather than original content. Comcast said it had revenue of $26.9 billion, up 24 percent over last year. It had 25.6 million residential broadband customers, up 1.2 million. CEO Brian Roberts said it's on pace for a 14th consecutive year of adding more than a million net broadband subscribers, while in Europe, Sky added 304,000. Comcast has 20.6 million residential video customers, down 432,000; 10 million residential voice customers, down 205,000; and 1.6 million wireless lines, up 805,000. Asked about possible deals, Roberts said the cable operator is focused on its current properties, with the Sky deal being opportunistic.