Priorities for ’04? To insure our core video value proposition beats satellite head to head. From a product standpoint it comes down to VOD, HD, DVR. Insuring there’s a real and meaningful product differentiation vs what the satellite guys can do today and what we anticipate them doing tomorrow. Does Murdoch’s entrance change Comcast’s plans? No, it’s not like prior to Rupert we haven’t had a very viable competitor in satellite. We believe the combination of VOD and DVR is very, very powerful and something the satellite guys can’t replicate. How far along is VOD? I’d say we’re in the 2nd inning of its evolution. Any surprises in the VOD numbers? I’m pleasantly surprised by the pretty spectacular usage. As an industry we’ve been talking about buy rates of 200 % being the Holy Grail. We’re seeing order rates that exceed 800% on a HH basis. There’s a burning consumer need to have more choice and control over what they watch on TV. How long will Comcast keep most of its VOD free? We don’t see an end to that. What we’re trying to do is load more value into our core video offering. To do that you add content and maintain the price, notwithstanding yearly but modest rate increases. What about programmers? We’re not blind to our partners’ need to ultimately monetize their content assets. We think there’s an ad-revenue model that hinges upon 2 things: one is a guide that makes it very seamless to go from on-demand to linear and back again; and two is a way of measuring, verifying and reporting eyeballs so they can be monetized via ad sales. When will we see on-demand content from the Viacom/MTV Nets deal? I’d hope within 120 days. I think first quarter is very doable. Comcast’s biggest headache? Our competition. It getsback to creating sustainable product-based differentiation that will enable us to win in the marketplace. We think we’re in a terrific position to do that. That’s not to say we don’t have a lot of work to do. It’s a matter of executing in the market. We also must make sure our marketing makes it very clear to both our customers and non-customers that what we have to offer is different and better than satellite. Besides you, who’s cable’s best left-handed golfer? I don’t know any left-handed golfers, I have to say the resident pro here at Comcast is our CFO Mike Tallent; he’s a 2 [handicap].

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T-Mobile Wins NARB Appeal

After T-Mobile appealed a National Advertising Decision that suggested it discontinue or modify its “save 20% every month vs. the other big guys” claim, the National Advertising Review Board found that the uncarrier’s claim is supported.

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