Earnings up at Cablevision and Comcast

Cablevision reported a third-quarter tripling of profit on Tuesday, while Comcast reported a 22 percent increase in profit in an earnings report today.

Driven by a surprising boost in advertising revenue and subscriber additions to high-speed data (+19,000) and telephony (+34,000) subscribers, Cablevision posted a quarterly profit of $98.9 million, three times its earnings in 3Q 2008.

Cablevision now has more than 2 million telephony subscribers.

Comcast reported a 3 percent increase in revenue, to $8.8 billion, from a year ago, but larger (seven times greater than revenue) boost in profits. The performance appears to be driven, as in Cablevision, by subscriber adds to high-speed data (+361,000) and telephony (+375,000).

Both MSOs lost video subscribers. Cablevision was down 27,000 basic and 14,000 digital; Comcast was down 132,000 basic video subscribers.

Traditional and political advertisers gave Cablevision a 6 percent boost in ad revenue. The ad campaign for Cablevision’s first interactive advertiser, Gillette, distributed 30,000 samples in one week, instead of the planned two, according to sister pub CableFAX Daily.

Speculation continues to surround Comcast’s interest in NBC Universal, with Comcast CEO Brian Roberts declining to comment on “rumors.”

–CT Staff