• by Wayne Friedman , November 2, 2011

Unlike other cable companies, Comcast Corp. showed stronger financial results during its third quarter reporting period. But like those companies, it continued to lose basic video customers.

Comcast's net income rose 5% to $908 million and revenue climbed 51% to $14.3 million.

Only Comcast's local advertising business segments drifted lower -- much like another big cable company, Time Warner, did in its earning results.  Business during the third quarter was down 4% to $492 million.

NBCUniversal business -- Comcast is the controlling owner -- grew 4.6% in revenue to $5.2 billion. But operating cash flow sank 9.3% to $951 million compared to $1.0 billion in last year's third quarter. Taking out acquisition-related accounting revisions and costs, operating cash flow looked a bit better -- slipping 1.4% to $1.0 billion.

Comcast says for the nine months ended September 30, 2011, NBCUniversal revenue of $15.4 billion increased 4.8% compared to $14.7 billion in 2010. Taking out the Vancouver Olympics, revenue grew 10.7%.

Breaking down NBCUniversal's results: Cable networks was again the strong leader, up 12% to $2.1 billion in revenue. There was 10.2% increase in TV distribution revenue, a 9.5% gain in advertising revenue and a 37.2% increase in revenue, primarily from licensing of owned content.

Its broadcast business (networks and stations) climbed only 2.9% to $1.5 billion, mostly from higher content licensing revenue. But there was "ratings pressure" at the NBC broadcast network and lower political advertising at NBC-owned local stations. 

NBCU filmed entertainment business suffered, down 7.8% to $1.1 billion. Comcast says there was lower theatrical revenue compared to the prior year, partially offset by higher home entertainment revenue from "Bridesmaids" and the international release of "Fast Five."

Theme Parks improved 9.8% to $580 million-- and was the only business segment to see its operating cash flow grow, up 12.6% to $285 million.

Like some other big cable companies, Comcast lost TV subscribers -- but at a slower rate than in the previous period. Comcast lost 165,000 TV subscribers, less than the 275,000 a year ago. It gained 261,000 broadband subscribers, versus a 249,000 gain a year ago. 

Comcast has 17.8 million broadband subscribers, the biggest Internet provider and 22.4 million cable-TV customers, and is the largest subscription TV company.

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