Comcast Corp. posted higher profit and revenue for the first quarter Wednesday, thanks largely to its cable strength.
The leading U.S. cable television provider and owner of NBC Universal posted first-quarter profit of $1.4 billion, or 54 cents a share, up from $1.22 billion, or 45 cents a year ago.
Excluding revenue from its sale of spectrum, the company posted earnings of 51 per share, beating analyst estimates by one cent, according to Reuters.
Revenue at Comcast rose 2.9 percent to $15.3 billion. Analysts, on average, expected $15.38 billion.
Revenue at NBC Universal rose 2.4 percent to $5.4 billion.
First quarter broadcast television revenue decreased 18.5 percent to $1.5 billion. Excluding the impact of the Super Bowl, broadcast revenue decreased 5.3 percent.
That reflected a decline in advertising due to lower primetime ratings, caused partially by the absence of "The Voice" from NBC's lineup for much of the quarter.
CEO Brian L. Roberts said ratings at the company's networks were as expected, and pointed to ratings gains at USA and Bravo, its largest cable networks. The company noted that its purchase of NBCUniversal was completed in the quarter.
"We feel really good about the entire transaction going back to 2009," CEO Brian L. Roberts said.
