Free Cable TV

Comcast has taken an interesting tack to grow their subscriber base. Today, they announced an offer of free basic cable television for television viewers switching over to digital services. Consumers who subscriber to one or more of Comcast's other services will be offered 12 months of free basic cable. While this might seem a net negative proposition for Comcast, the truth is that they are luring in customers by trading off a lower margin service i.e. video for one year in return for customers' commitment to higher margin services i.e. voice and data. In addition, at the end of the year Comcast can always up-sell their basic cable subscribers to premium video services. I'll be waiting on the next quarterly update to see the numbers.

On a side note, Comcast also announced launch of their addressable advertising solutions in Baltimore. Interestingly enough, they are using Invidi's Advatar platform. Has the canoe floated yet?