I want to give a plug to an upcoming conference in Canada — mesh. (Only second time I’ve done this.) Founded by a group of savvy journalists and at least one equally hip attorney, mesh is a Canadian forum focused on Web 2.0 applications and will take place May 15 and 16 in Toronto.
One topic the conference will take a look at is the impact of blogs on Canadian politics. One of the organizers, Stuart MacDonald, suggests that Canada is so close but so far from the U.S. on the role of blogging in politics.
Canada is far away from that. In fact, you could say that there is huge evidence that Canadian political parties, steeped in senior back-room leadership who still might well have people print their emails for heaven’s sake, are far out of that loop, despite superficial attempts to look like they aren’t. Personally, I think unless that changes, they will have their communal butts handed to them online within two years.
Another organizer, Mathew Ingram, seems to disagree with his colleague.
We decided to look at that last one in part because of the effect that bloggers had on the coverage of the Iraq war, on the election of George Bush and even on events such as the Jayson Blair affair at the New York Times — but also because of the effect that bloggers like Michael Geist and Ed “Captain’s Quarters” Morrissey and Joey DeVilla had on the Canadian election, when they helped destabilize and possibly derail the candidacy of Sarmite Bulte, the record labels’ best friend.
Whichever way it is, the session on blogging looks promising, as does the entire event.
Posted by Cynthia Brumfield at 12:47 PM | Print | Comments (3)
The telecom reform legislation that was marked-up in committee yesterday is now scheduled for the House floor on May 4. While there are many procedural issues that could stand in the way, net neutrality advocates and (presumably) cable operators will try to gain on the floor what they lost in both subcommittee and committee mark-ups.
Net neutrality advocates hope to amend the bill with tougher regulations that bar broadband providers from offering special deals for improved delivery of services and content. Cable operators will no doubt seek to impose greater franchising obligations on phone companies, which will gain a national franchise unencumbered by the requirements that cable companies currently meet.
Posted by Cynthia Brumfield at 12:24 PM | Print | Comments (0)Philadelphia, PA-based cable giant Comcast issued its Q1 06 earnings results this morning showing strong numbers across the board. The fine performance of the nation’s cable top operator during the quarter can be boiled down to three things: speed, voice and VOD.
Comcast posted revenue of $5.6 billion, up 9.5% year-over-year and 3.3% sequentially. Operating cash flow advanced 11% year-over-year and 2% sequentially to $2.2 billion. Free cash flow (cash flow less capex — meaning money in the pocket) soared by 136% year-over-year to $775 million.
While these results are in line with what Comcast typically reports, the first quarter of 2006 was particularly strong in two key areas. First, high-speed data subscriptions posted a Q1 record growth rate, with Comcast adding 437,000 net new customers, reaching a total of 8.9 million subscribers by quarter’s end, or slightly more than 21% of total homes passed.
This growth is noteworthy because Comcast’s high-speed service is far more expensive, but far faster, than that of the company’s telco rivals. In fact, company executives noted during Comcast’s earnings call that speed sells.
“We think our message on speed superiority rings true,” Comcast Cable President Steve Burke said, noting that Comcast is picking up as many new high-speed customers from DSL as it is from AOL’s dial-up service. Around 34% of Comcast’s new data customers were defectors from DSL, compared to only about 23% a year ago.
In an intriguing statement, Burke also said that Comcast will boost its broadband speeds again later this year, but in a manner that is unexpected. “You can assume we will be increasing our speeds. Second half of the year we have an implementation that will allow us to increase our speed in ways we’ve never done before.”
Also helping to boost Comcast’s financial performance was the company’s digital voice, or VoIP service. Comcast added 211,000 net new digital voice customers during the quarter, raising the total VoIP subscriber base to 416,000 or 2.2% of the homes capable of buying that option. (Comcast is allowing its circuit-switched voice offerings to continually shrink).
Burke said that there is a very high correlation between digital voice and high-speed data subscriptions, with voice customers opting to add broadband service. Approximately 75% of the Comcast Digital Voice customers buy the full triple-play service of voice video and data, while 23% to 24% of voice subscribers buy at least two services.
CEO Brian Roberts has high hopes for the voice product to be an engine for growth. “This is just the beginning of the telephone era,” he said. “This is going to be a sustained growth even in markets that have been at it a little while for us.”
Comcast will roll out digital voice to five million more homes in Q2, and plans to end the year with 30 million voice-capable homes passed.
Digital subscriptions also surged ahead, with Comcast adding 340,000 net new digital customers during the quarter, 70% more than were added during the year-ago quarter. Comcast ended Q1 06 with 10.1 million digital subscriber or 47% penetration of basic customers.
Burke praised VOD for helping to spur digital (and basic) subscriber growth. “There is no question that when our customers have and use on demand they have a better experience than customers who use satellite,” Burke said. During the quarter, six million homes used Comcast’s VOD, up 50% over the four million homes using the on-demand option in Q1 05.
| Comcast Key Statistics | |||||
| Subscribers and Penetration | 1Q05 | 2Q05 | 3Q05 | 4Q05 | 1Q06 |
| Homes passed | 41,000,000 | 41,200,000 | 41,400,000 | 41,600,000 | 41,800,000 |
| Basic cable subs | 21,525,000 | 21,448,000 | 21,409,000 | 21,449,000 | 21,495,000 |
| Basic cable penetration | 52.6% | 52.1% | 51.8% | 51.5% | 51.4% |
| Pro Forma annual sub growth | 0.0% | -0.1% | -0.4% | -0.5% | -0.1% |
| Net Subscribers Added | (29,000) | (77,000) | (46,000) | 40,000 | 47,000 |
| Total Revenue Generating Units | 39,024,000 | 39,523,000 | 40,240,000 | 41,079,000 | 42,044,000 |
| Digital Video | 1Q05 | 2Q05 | 3Q05 | 4Q05 | 1Q06 |
| Digital subscribers | 8,856,000 | 9,140,000 | 9,447,000 | 9,789,000 | 10,129,000 |
| Estimated growth in digital subs | 200,000 | 284,000 | 307,000 | 342,000 | 340,000 |
| Penetration of total basics | 41.1% | 42.6% | 44.1% | 44.6% | 47.1% |
| Digital set-top boxes | 13,365,000 | 13,859,000 | 14,398,000 | 15,052,000 | 15,657,000 |
| High Speed Data | 1Q05 | 2Q05 | 3Q05 | 4Q05 | 1Q06 |
| HSD subs | 7,408,000 | 7,705,000 | 8,142,000 | 8,520,000 | 8,957,000 |
| Quarterly net sub adds | 414,000 | 297,000 | 437,000 | 378,000 | 437,000 |
| Penetration of total HP | 18.1% | 18.7% | 19.7% | 20.5% | 21.4% |
| Monthly avg revenue per subscriber | $ 42.81 | $ 43.34 | $ 42.88 | $ 42.39 | $ 43.14 |
| Phone | 1Q05 | 2Q05 | 3Q05 | 4Q05 | 1Q06 |
| Comcast Digital Voice | |||||
| Available Homes | 16,290,000 | 18,833,000 | |||
| Subscribers | 204,000 | 416,000 | |||
| Penetration | 1.3% | 2.2% | |||
| Net Additions | 134,000 | 211,000 | |||
| Circuit Switched Voice | |||||
| Available Homes | 10,245,000 | 10,623,000 | |||
| Subscribers | 1,117,000 | 1,047,000 | |||
| Penetration | 10.9% | 9.9% | |||
| Net Additions | (55,000) | (70,000) | |||
| Source: Emerging Media Dynamics, Inc. analysis of company data. © 2006. | |||||
Niall McKay has this short piece at Wired News that talks about artistes developing little films for cell phones. At the San Francisco International Film Festival this week, 20 films made for tiny screens have been entered as part of the Festival’s Pocket Cinema program.
Independent filmmakers, who rely less on “action” scenes and more on character development and dialog, may actually fare better on mobile phones than their big studio peers.
Bachar [Joe Bacher, founder of Microcinema International] said videos that use less movement and fewer edits are easier to download and watch on a mobile. Also, mobile art videos that combine the use of sound and images to convey a nontraditional type of narrative are a lot easier to consume on a cell phone than a TV series.Posted by Cynthia Brumfield at 9:38 AM | Print | Comments (0)
The Christian Science Monitor’s Gregory Lamb has an overview piece today on the Web 2.0 phenomenon. It doesn’t cover new ground, but Lamb seems to have talked to the right people.
Dave Weinberger notes that Web 2.0 is less a technological breakthrough (after all, Web 1.0 developed most of the technology) rather than a social change.
“Hundreds of millions of us on the Web feel we’re building a new world, and we want to contribute,” Mr. Weinberger says. “Something truly remarkable is going on.”
Kevin Werbach notes that the fundamental changes may simply be a reflection of human nature.
The idea of Web 2.0 as the community-driven Web reflects something fundamental and enduring about human nature, Werbach says. “People want to collaborate and share information and ideas with their friends and be part of communities,” he says. Web 2.0 helps them do so.Posted by Cynthia Brumfield at 8:10 AM | Print | Comments (0)
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