Here’s How Comcast Can Benefit By Launching Dish’s Sling TV Bundles On Its X1 Set Tops

+10.26%
Upside
43.35
Market
47.80
Trefis
CMCSA: Comcast logo
CMCSA
Comcast

Recently, Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) and Dish Network’s streaming service Sling TV announced a partnership under which Sling TV will launch on Comcast’s X1 platform. This will give Comcast customers access to Sling TV’s new multicultural programs and channels. While all the channels in Sling TV’s core packages are already available on Comcast, Sling TV’s multicultural programming provides 320 channels in 21 languages including Arabic, German, Spanish and Hindi. Comcast’s subscribers will get access to this huge content library through the recent partnership complementing the company’s existing offerings. The Pay-TV industry faces intense competition from alternative streaming media, even as an increasing number of consumers look for more customized content suited to their viewing needs.  As such, this partnership can prove to be winning strategy for Comcast, allowing it to retain and grow subscribers in the long term.

See our complete analysis for Comcast

Attracting And Retaining Subscribers With  Diverse Content

Relevant Articles
  1. Rising 15% Over The Last Year, Will Comcast Stock See Gains Following Q4 Results?
  2. Can Comcast Stock Recover 40% To Pre-Inflation Shock Highs?
  3. What To Expect From Comcast’s Q3 Results?
  4. Will Comcast Stock Return To Its Pre-Inflation Shock Highs?
  5. What To Expect From Comcast’s Q2 Results
  6. Will Comcast Stock Return To Pre-Inflation Shock Highs?

In 2014, 17% of the U.S. population was Hispanic, making people of Spanish origin the nation’s largest ethnic minority. With its latest partnership with Sling TV, Comcast appears to be wooing this section of the population and other subscribers with multi-cultural interests. Sling TV offers a suite of standalone and add-on Spanish language programming packages which are tailored to the Spanish dominant, English dominant and bilingual U.S. households. Content quality and variety dominates subscribers’ choices for Pay-TV or streaming media.  By offering  a variety of content, Comcast is working towards making its X1 platform a one stop place for all user entertainment needs. Earlier this year, the company had entered into a deal with Netflix in order to stabilize its subscriber base. (Read Why Netflix Deal Matters For Comcast?) As Pay-TV operators lose subscribers to cheaper internet-based media streaming services, we expect Comcast’s market share in the U.S. Pay-TV market to decline from 22.7% in 2016 to nearly 21.5% by the end of our forecast period.

However, Comcast’s efforts to improve its customer service and on demand content can help in arresting this decline and the recent deal with Sling TV should contribute towards these initiatives.  There will be an upside to our price estimate if this market share remains stable or increases over our forecast period.

Partnering with players such as Neflix and Sling TV provides a multitude of benefits to Comcast. These include a diminished competitive threat, an increase in the stability of the subscriber base and reduced scrutiny from regulators.  In addition, it enhances the content available on its platform. We believe this strategy should help Comcast retain and grow subscribers in the long term, driving revenues and profitability.

View Interactive Institutional Research (Powered by Trefis):
Global Large CapU.S. Mid & Small CapEuropean Large & Mid Cap
More Trefis Research