CMCSA
#Well, as you said, we've continued to add over 1 million customers for nine years now and that we have done 16 speed increases in the past 13 years.
So we continue to increase speeds and that is the value that customers are receiving.
We have also, as <UNK> mentioned in his comments, increased the wireless gateways so our in-home Wi-Fi is a very strong value add.
In terms of DOCSIS 3.1 it is ---+ we have it in the labs, we plan on rolling it out early next year.
And we think that will give us more speed capability and we are also working on products that will increase let's just call it the smartness of the Internet, not just speed.
So, we think we can continue to grow market share and the market is growing.
Only 70% of customers have a high speed connection.
So there is market growth opportunity there as well.
Well, let me start by just saying that we see the two companies ---+ the two parts of the Company working together is really part of what is powering these earnings results and across the board.
And one of the areas that we have identified as a management team is that question.
There is [importantly] how do we improve the technology so we have better targeted information.
What is the data that can assist the advertisers and the networks in having the right relationship with what they are offering.
And it is an important area to the Company because of both parts of the Company have a lot of advertising dollars.
It is nice to see the spot market being very successful right now and supportive of this space.
So I think there is a lot of chance for us to perform well.
The other thing with data is sort of measurement and having buyers be more knowledgeable to whatever means that that data gets to the marketplace.
And so, we're looking at all those opportunities across the Company.
<UNK> or <UNK>, please jump in.
Our advertising group which is now unified under Linda Yaccarino for all the cable channels, all broadcast and all-digital.
She's currently not only allowing advertisers to sell across all those platforms, but to do so in a way that is informed by information or complemented by targetability on the Comcast side.
Which is obviously a very, very unique product in a world where advertisers want to marry the proven storyteller ---+ storytelling of a television spot with the targetability of the Internet.
So, she is in the market with those products right now, they are doing very well.
And those products are going to get more sophisticated as we complement them with more information, more set-top box data, etc.
It is <UNK>.
On the balance sheet side or the size of the debt issuance of the Company, I think that continues and should continue to be a factor that we think about.
We are a large issuer and we want to make sure that through the course of time we are always able to carry the balances at good rates through time.
And concerning programming costs, this was a lower quarter than usual in terms of percentage of increase.
We do see that increasing.
We will be slightly below our 8% number that we have given previous guidance on.
And I think we are not done with the budgeting process yet for 2016, so we are not prepared to comment on that yet.
Concerning Internet Plus, as I mentioned, when they roll off promotional rates some people step up to higher level packages, more video, about 30% do.
Some people roll off or churn off and some people extend in the existing to step up in their pricing.
So we find it is an attractive way of getting customers who are initially only interested in Internet onto a video product and then expand the package from there, get a foot in the door.
Concerning Altice, it is good to see others recognize the value in the cable market as we have.
There is always things we can learn.
They do some things ---+ some interesting things with self-service, their IT consolidation, their structural approach and we are always open to learning.
I think the competitive intensity is much the same as it has been in the past.
The base offers they're attractive promotional offers but the base rate remains in the same ballpark.
I think different people are trying different things.
We feel the X1 platform is something we can build on.
There is greater viewership, there is more VOD consumption both transactional and non-transactional.
The churn reduction is significant.
And there are more AOs, more DVR usage.
So we are investing behind the X1 platform and we feel we can continue to ---+ our objective is to continue to improve year over year on an ongoing basis.
I would just add that the thing that I feel good about is the video product that we are offering has tremendous momentum.
It is the best in the market.
People that don't live in <UNK>adelphia or one of our markets when they see it they go, wow, I wish I could get that.
With the ease now of the voice remote we will put millions of those out in the next several quarters.
And it just makes it even that much better.
And our service initiatives and the improvements that are being made, and the reliability and on time and the network reliability, there's a tremendous focus here and I think that is improving as well.
So, you put all that together, I really think we have great momentum and a good strategy.
I complement Dave Watson and the operating teams in the field who are really driving the X1 out and targeting selective segments in the offer.
40,000 a day, that is a huge push.
<UNK>, it is <UNK>, I will start and <UNK> can finish.
But on business services, enterprise growth it is a continuation of what we are doing.
The needs are similar and we are investing and it is a big source of capital investment that you have seen and the recent past and that is going to continue.
But we are going to layer on businesses of a bigger scale that have the profile of the medium-size enterprises that we already have.
And I would just add that we are targeting the Fortune 1000 companies and other large enterprises that have 300 locations or more.
And if you think about it, this type of enterprise customer, we are looking at entities with branches such as banks, restaurants retailers and those are all small customers like an assembly of small customers.
So, we have managed services to more than 20 large enterprise customers already and have already signed multiple eight figure deals.
So one of the things that NBCUniversal does for Comcast and I think <UNK> put a focus on it right from the get go when we moved Jeff Shell to London was to really use this as a way to have the Company look at broader opportunities, not just in the United States, but around the world.
And we are really happy with the Osaka and Japan theme park, 51% announcement.
But as we have said, and I think that what I was really referring to was our China opportunity.
We have a partnership that we are in the process of getting complete all the approvals necessary to go forward, but we are looking forward to building an entire new Universal in Beijing and that is a continuation of the ---+because we are in the theme park business, when we bought the Company there were no owned assets outside the United States.
And we will have perhaps the largest or one of the largest theme parks will be China.
And when you see Universal Japan it is a thriving business that we think we can grow and we are in the process of putting in the manage unit.
Coming from Florida, the Chief Financial Officer of Universal Parks is going to move there.
And the team is really ready for this kind of opportunities and can hit the ground running.
So, there is nothing else at this time that we are working on specifically like that.
But this was a unique opportunity and we are ---+ it complements what we're going to do in Beijing.
I think on the competitive side, as I said, we haven't seen a meaningful difference in approach or sub numbers.
Our churn ---+ our numbers are the best in nine years and it is driven by churn.
So you'd think that if there was a very attractive offer you would see higher churn but our churn numbers remain over.
And concerning the retrans ---+.
I don't know if he is talking to you or to <UNK>.
I think our retrans(multiple speakers) generally speaking are continuing on a steady curve and there is no real lumpiness in that number.
Look, we've seen this is not a new thing, there were similar thoughts when the bells were building, that it was not universal.
We can't per se control that.
We obviously want to have as level a playing field as one can.
But a pro-competitive strategy in our opinion is better than a pro-regulatory strategy.
And if there is more competition, that is something that we have been facing for years and nothing we are going to do to change that or want to change that.
I think if anything it is a reminder to regulators how competitive this industry is and will be in the future.
And that is why it is so critical that we continue to perform well and sharpen our operating skills and we are showing that.
Thanks, <UNK>.
Regina.
We have got time for one more question.
I think it has been a combination of a number of factors.
One is getting people on the X1 platform is having an effect on churn.
Second is we have more people on contracts.
And third is that there is more people using TV Everywhere.
There is a third of our customers are using TV Everywhere on a monthly basis.
And finally, I think our customer experience improvements have helped significantly.
I mean, if we can get the right customers and keep them longer it is going to impact churn.
So our customer experience things in terms of reducing phone calls, reducing truck rolls, getting things right the first time and really super serving our customers is having an impact as well.
I just want to sum up from my perspective what was so good about this quarter from where I sit is the Company working really well together.
It was a terrific first nine months of the year, this quarter being in video the best in nine years, and broadband the best in six years.
At NBCUniversal we basically now have doubled the cash flow on a run rate to do that.
That strength is across so many different parts of the Company that are participating in the technology change that is happening, as we have talked about the millennials, we talk also about NBC and investments in Vox and BuzzFeed and the ability to now hopefully have advertising that can take some of our content and their content and bring it to advertisers.
Doing all this while still maintaining leverage allows us to buy back shares and the dividend and <UNK> <UNK> joining us here and changing sort of the trajectory of that buyback in anticipation of things.
And ultimately it is giving customers what they want in having a company with a unique set of assets that can do that.
And I think we really ---+ in so many different fronts of the Company did that this quarter.
So we are really pleased and thank you for your questions and support.
Thanks, <UNK>.
And thanks, everyone, for joining us.
That will conclude today's call.
Regina, back to you.
