Conference Notebook

Comcast‘s multiple services have to date helped the MSO weather the dismal US economy’s flurry of punches, said CFO Michael Angelakis, but worsening financial and credit crises are cause for concern. "We can take some body blows related to the economy like we’re doing now," said Angelakis, but "we’re very concerned about the ripple effect [the economy] may have in the consumer market." The MSO’s booming commercial business, however, may benefit from the turmoil through "value-conscious" customers, he said, and forthcoming are key competitive differentiators such as DOCSIS 3.0 and the WiMAX partnership. Comcast plans to transition its entire footprint to all-digital over the next 18-24 months, he said, with early results "quite good" in the 20% of systems already completed. — After posting an $83mln loss last fiscal year, Big Ten Net will make a small profit this year, News Corp‘s Rupert Murdoch said. He also was bullish on Fox Business, which he expects to lose as much this year as it lost in its half year in ’07. "It will be a 3-year thing, but we’re confident it will be very valuable asset," he said.