One of the perks of being the nation’s largest cable operator: a general session demo slot. Comcast (NSDQ: CMCSA) Chairman and CEO Brian Roberts used the time for a demo of one technology the company hadn’t yet decided how to deploy—1 Gbps downloads over a cable modem, which we were…

I was an accidental tourist Tuesday for a small bit of cable internet history, when I decided an after-hours crowd with Comcast (NSDQ: CMCSA) CEO Brian Roberts and converged products head Sam Schwartz at the center was worth an unscheduled stop at the Comcast booth. That’s how I saw Roberts…

Holy broadband, Batman! Comcast’s long-anticipated Extreme 105 Mbps broadband service launched today in major markets across the U.S., potentially transforming the media lives of those who can afford it: a 4 GB HD movie in five minutes, 10 songs in three seconds. By comparison, at 6 Mbps, the same media…

Comcast (NSDQ: CMCSA) cable subs with iPads or iPhones and the Xfinity TV app are now part of the (some) TV Everywhere club. The TV show and movie library is limited to some offerings from 10 cable networks for now but will increase with deals like the one announced Tuesday…

Aside from the poor economy hanging over consumers’ heads, Comcast (NSDQ: CMCSA) is facing greater competition than AT&T (NYSE: T) and Verizon; of which had the effect of reducing numbers of video subscribers in Q3 (see the company’s metrics here for more details). A small number of customers appear to…

I like to think I’m past the point of raving about something just because it is an app—and I’m not planning to rave here about the still-in-progress Xfinity Remote coming to browsers and devices in the not-too-distant future. But of all the possibilities for consumers at The Cable Show going…

Comcast (NSDQ: CMCSA) is prepping an Xfinity Remote app that will connect with subscribers set-top box. Chairman and CEO Brian Roberts showed off the app, still in development, in a video demo during a session at The Cable Show. Roberts said eventually Comcast will want to bring TV to the…

A couple of decades ago, John Hendricks offered Comcast (NSDQ: CMCSA) serious equity in the new Discovery channel. The cable operator said no—and has spent much of the past few years trying to make up for the failure to recognize how important a stake in content would be to distributors.…

For the first time in two years, Comcast (NSDQ: CMCSA) is reporting a positive quarter for advertising. “We’re not entirely out of the woods,” Comcast CEO Brian Roberts told investors and analysts during the cable operator’s Q1 call, but an increase of nearly 24 percent in its cable advertising revenue…

If the grilling of Comcast (NSDQ: CMCSA) and NBC top execs is any indication, the merger of the two companies faces an uphill battle in the Senate Antitrust Subcommittee. Comcast chairman Brian Roberts and NBCU president Jeff Zucker found themselves repeatedly challenged, and occasionally cut off, by passionate bordering on…

Comcast (NSDQ: CMCSA) CEO Brian Roberts and GE CEO Jeff Immelt spent nearly 30 minutes this morning on CNBC—one of the assets Comcast hopes to control by this time next year.

Comcast (NSDQ: CMCSA) Chairman and CEO Brian Roberts used his appearance at Web 2.0 Tuesday to announce the national roll out of Comcast On Demand Online to Comcast cable subscribers by the end of the year.  (The initial service will be only in home and for Comcast subscribers who also…

The sound of ticking as Vivendi SA (EPA: VIV) decides whether or not to sell its 20 percent stake in *NBC Universal* during this year’s window is getting as loud as the clock in the crocodile that haunts Captain Hook. The volume this time around (the French company has the…

Add HBO and Cinemax to the list of networks taking part in the Comcast (NSDQ: CMCSA) Online On Demand national trial slated to start later this month. The Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) premium networks will start by providing up to 750 hours of programming a month to trial participants who…

The 5,000 Comcast (NSDQ: CMCSA) subscribers taking part in the company’s planned online VOD trial this summer will have access to 300 movies and some original programming from Starz Entertainment—if they already subscribe to the premium network. The Comcast On Demand Online trial is the first toe in the water…

Sometime this July, 5,000 Comcast (NSDQ: CMCSA) customers across the U.S. will get the first taste of TV Everywhere—and the first broadband access to select programming from 10-15 programmers, including many who have resisted putting full episodes online until now. As expected Time Warner (NYSE: TWX), whose CEO Jeff Bewkes…

Most of the discussion swirling about making paid programming ubiquitous across platforms calls for no additional charges for the consumer. Pay for it once and you get it on TV, broadband or mobile. Most of the payoff for operators would come in lower churn, new subscribers and increased interest in…

CEO Brian Roberts, CFO Michael Angelakis, and COO Stephen Burke led an upbeat fourth quarter 2008 earnings call for Comcast (NSDQ: CMCSA) that highlighted a continued emphasis on digital offerings at the company amidst increasing competition from telephone and internet companies. Burke said that 70 percent of the households it…

I’m in New Orleans at The Cable Show, where the Clearwire-Sprint (NYSE: S) WiMax JV owns some of the biggest buzz. Comcast (NSDQ: CMCSA) CEO Brian Roberts and Intel (NSDQ: INTC) CEO Paul Otellini, whose companies are both investors, talked up the new JV during the opening session. Later, when…