[pixl97]

How is that income figured exactly. I mean, doesn't every major movie seem to lose money even after raking in billions? I just don't trust any number from Comcast without a large volume of information on how those numbers were calculated.

And at that, that doesn't explain how Comcast even stayed in business till that point? Were they allowed to install their networks at a loss? Are there costs artificially high? Are they claiming TV programming costs in their figures?

[rayiner]

A better example is probably Charter, which doesn't have the noise of the media/movie business: http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=112298&p=irol-re.... Look at page 54 of their 2013 10-K.

Their revenues were $8.15 billion (just over $100 per customer, for the whole year). $5.35 billion in operating costs, and $1.85 billion in depreciation and amortization (the loss in value of the capital in the ground). $925 million in net income on that revenue (11%).

What's really shocking is that their revenue per customer relationship is under $130 per year. That's the result of something else pundits ignore: cable company franchise agreements require them to build out to neighborhoods where many subscribers just get basic cable, which is usually subject to a regulated rate of just $10-20 dollars/month.

Looking at just the ISP business makes the numbers look worse. $4 billion of the revenue is from video, while $2 billion of the costs are for programming (see page F-10). If you take out the video revenue, you're down to $4.15 billion in revenue, with about $5.15 billion in expenses (i.e. you're losing a billion dollars a year).

Ultimately, of course, after paying interest on debt Charter lost money for the year. The idea that cable companies are wildly profitable is an HN myth.

[tanzam75]

> Their revenues were $8.15 billion (just over $100 per customer, for the whole year). ... What's really shocking is that their revenue per customer relationship is under $130 per year.

You seem to be an order of magnitude off on your ARPU calculations. $8.15 billion in revenue (p. F-4) / 5.9 million customers (p. 1) = $1,381 ARPU

Either that, or you're mixing up monthly with annual. On p. 4, they calculate their monthly revenue per residential customer relationship at $108.

However, you are generally correct that the cable business is a tough business to be in. Lots of labor costs, lots of capex, lots of interest costs. On an ROA basis, they're not doing that much better than the regulated utilities.

[rayiner]

You're right, I was looking at the Table on Page 4, which lists revenue per customer relationship at $107.97. That must be per month, not per year.

[digikata]

These numbers should also say something to free market advocates that dream of multiple companies installing redundant infrastructure to compete for customers.

[wmf]

I think the "myth" comes from attributing almost all costs to the video side which results in conclusions like $4.15B Internet revenue with minimal costs == all profit.