Comcast sees 39% profit jump, plans X1 network DVR

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Comcast sees 39% profit jump, plans X1 network DVR Michelle Clancy ©RapidTVNews | 03-05-2012 Comcast is planning to go live with a network DVR service, dubbed the X1, in an as-yet-undisclosed market sometime in the second quarter. The announcement was made during its earnings report, which revealed a 39% jump in profit even as another 37,000 basic video customers fled the cableco. That subscriber drain however was balanced out by 565,000 new triple-play customers in the quarter (meaning that 38% of the base is now taking the Internet, TV and phone bundles). Profit grew to $1.45 billion, with a 23% revenue growth year-over-year to reach $14.88 billion. Comcast's X1 cloud-based option will expand to more markets over the course of the year, with plans to launch a series of new apps and cloud-based content and promotions as part of the service, to enable more personalisation. "I think the real advantage of it was, we put so much of our information up in the cloud," said Neil Smit, CEO of the Comcast Cable subsidiary. "It enables us to innovate more quickly...I think the impact of it will be hopefully more customers wanting to subscribe to our video service, and less (sharing) because they are more pleased with our product." About 11.1 million customers (54%) already pay for either HD service or a DVR with the company.