Comcast has grown from a regional cable provider to the largest provider of cable services in the United States. It has focused on obtaining new subscribers and offering new technology while it has paid less attention to the area of content. The company participates in an industry that provides some monopolistic protection in geographic regions by limiting direct competition, but faces competition from competing technologies such as satellite providers.
Comcast has begun acquiring content assets, such as E! Entertainment Television, but its content holdings are small at this point. In early 2004, the company made an unsolicited bid for Disney, a move that would have greatly expanded Comcast's content as well as introduced the company to entirely new markets in which it has no experience. The initial offer was rebuffed by the Disney board, but indicates that Comcast recognizes the importance of adding content to its ability to provide cable service.
In addition to content, Comcast is also capitalizing on technology and offering new products, such as pay-per-view, video on demand and Internet access, some of which cannot be offered by satellite providers. By positioning itself as a telecommunications provider able to provide phone and Internet service as well as televised entertainment, Comcast may well be positioning itself to succeed against other technologies--such as broadcast television and satellite systems--that cannot do the same.
When Comcast announced that it was making a takeover bid for Disney in early 2004, the cable television provider appeared to be making an effort to quickly expand its product offerings. Although Comcast is generally considered a cable company, it has expanded into content and into products that move its focus beyond merely providing television service to its customers. Comcast, like Disney, was started by a strong leader who passed the company onto his children. Unlike Disney, however, ...