Comcast didn’t add any new broadband subscribers between April and June, marking the first time the company has failed to grow its high-speed Internet business. The company announced Q2 2022 earnings this morning as broadband figures remained unchanged from Q1 at 32.2 million subscribers.
With one exception, it’s the first time Comcast hasn’t added at least 100,00 new subscribers, he said. The Wall Street Journal. This exception came after the 2008 financial crisis and still resulted in 65,000 new subscribers.
Comcast seems to think the flatline is only temporary. CEO Brian Roberts cites a “unique and evolving macroeconomic environment” that limits the company’s ability to add new subscribers. The spring quarter was also Comcast’s slowest for new broadband subscribers by a good margin, even in years past, so there’s reason to believe the company can bounce back.
There were other problems at Comcast this quarter. Peacock, the streaming service, also failed to add new paid subscribers, missing 13 million. Comcast tries to brush this off as a content problem, but the problem is Comcast hasn’t released anything worth watching. The company says that programming in the first quarter was “unusual” … but after that, we’ll have to wait for its biggest movies and new shows to hit the service this year. Comcast expects a “significant” increase in growth after this happens.
