HDTV helps drive Comcast earnings

Comcast Corp., the largest cable provider in the country, reported a 10.5% increase in revenue earlier today. The company earned $5.6 billion in revenues due to the many services provided, such as cable television, broadband internet access and telephone service.

There isn't much detailed data available specific to HDTV in the press release, except for one item of note: 300,000 set-top boxes were deployed in the 2nd quarter that support HDTV and/or DVR capabilities. It's uncertain as to the breakdown of these deployments, but each one of then generates an additional $5 to $10 per month of subscription revenue, which is nothing to sneeze at.

Comcast also holds or has an ownership interest in several cable networks, such as: E! Entertainment Television, Style Network, The Golf Channel, Outdoor Life Network, and G4 TV. Noticeably, none of these networks have any high definition programming. Does anyone else see an opportunity here for Comcast to develop some HD content? Production costs would surely increase, but more HD channels might bring in more of those five and ten dollar bills each month.