Comcast 2013 Annual Report Download - page 12

Table of Contents
Sources of Supply
To offer our video services, we license a substantial portion of our programming from cable and broadcast networks, as well as
from local broadcast television stations. We attempt to secure long-
term programming distribution agreements with our content
providers. We also license individual programs or packages of programs from programming suppliers for our On Demand and
streaming services. We seek to include in our distribution agreements the rights to offer such programming to our subscribers
through multiple delivery platforms that may be used in a variety of locations, such as through On Demand, XFINITY TV online, and
through our mobile apps for smartphones and tablets.
Our video programming expenses are affected by the programming license fees charged by cable networks, fees we pay for
retransmission of the signals from local broadcast television stations, the number of video customers we serve and the amount of
content we provide. We anticipate that our programming expenses will continue to increase as we provide additional content to our
customers, including in HD; as we deliver this content through an increasing number of platforms, including On Demand, online and
through our mobile apps for smartphones and tablets; and as the fees we pay increase. We believe that adding more content and
delivering it on various platforms will help us attract and retain video customers.
We purchase from a limited number of suppliers a significant number of set-
top boxes, network equipment and services that we use
in providing our cable services.
For our high-
speed Internet services, we license software products (such as email and security software) and content (such as
news feeds) for our portal, XFINITY.comcast.net, from a variety of suppliers under contracts in which we generally pay on a fixed-
fee basis, on a per subscriber basis in the case of software product licenses or on a video advertising revenue share basis in the
case of content licenses.
For our voice services, we license software products (such as voicemail and text messaging) from a variety of suppliers under
multiyear contracts. The fees we pay are generally based on the consumption of the related services.
We use two primary vendors to provide customer billing for our cable services.
Customer and Technical Services
Our customer service call centers provide 24/7 call-
answering capability, telemarketing and other services. Our technical services
group performs various tasks, including installations, plant maintenance and upgrades to our cable distribution system.
Sales and Marketing
We offer our services directly to residential and business customers through our customer service call centers, customer service
centers, door-to-
door selling, direct mail advertising, television advertising, Internet advertising, local media advertising,
telemarketing and retail outlets. We market our cable services both individually and as bundled services.
NBCUniversal Segments
In 2011, we closed the NBCUniversal and Universal Orlando transactions in which we acquired control of the businesses of
NBCUniversal and Universal Orlando. In 2013, we acquired GE’
s 49% remaining common equity interest in NBCUniversal. For
additional information on these transactions, refer to Note 4 to Comcast’
s consolidated financial statements and Note 3 to
NBCUniversal’s consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
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Comcast 2013 Annual Report on Form 10
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K