Comcast loses 140K cable subscribers and swings to video revenue decline

Comcast lost another 140,000 net video customers during the second quarter and its video revenues slumped slightly, down 1.6% to about $5.6 billion.

The loss expands on the 93,000 video customers in the first quarter of 2018.

But overall Comcast’s cable communications segment saw revenues rise 3.4% to $13.7 billion, thanks in part to what the company said was the best second quarter in 10 years for broadband net adds.

Comcast said its total customer relationships increased by 182,000 during the quarter reaching 29.8 million. Residential customer relationships increased by 147,000 and business customer relationships increased by 36,000, and at the end of the second quarter, Comcast said that 68.7% of its residential customers received at least two Xfinity products.

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But Comcast achieved growth overall across most consolidated metrics. Consolidated revenue rose 2.1% to $21.7 billion. Consolidated net income attributable to Comcast rose 27.6% to $3.2 billion. Consolidated adjusted EBITDA rose 4.8% to $7.4 billion.

This overall growth occurred despite NBCUniversal staying mostly flat during the quarter, with overall revenues down 0.1% to $8.3 billion. Cable networks revenue rose 8.2% to $2.9 billion and broadcast television revenue rose 6.7% to $2.4 billion but filmed entertainment revenue fell 20.2% to $1.7 billion thanks to plummeting theatrical revenue.

Jefferies analyst John Janedis was encouraged by the results.

“Comcast delivered a strong quarter which we think should provide relief for shares, and re-focus attention on fundamentals. Results were generally better, importantly with stronger broadband adds and Cable margin upside. NBCU EBITDA continued to exceed expectations, though top-line was a bit light given timing of film slate. While we expect Sky will remain in focus, we are encouraged by underlying trends and continue to think the stock will re-rate higher,” Janedis wrote in a research note.