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Microsoft dumps Comcast shares

By | January 20, 2009, 12:17pm PST

Summary: In what could be viewed as more cost cutting (or maybe just a throwing in of the towel), Microsoft has divested itself of more — if not all — of its shares of Comcast.

In what could be viewed as more cost cutting (or maybe just a throwing in of the towel), Microsoft has divested itself of more — if not all of its shares of Comcast.

Microsoft acknowledged the Comcast stock sale in a January 16 Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing. According to the report, Microsoft (as of some unspecified date) no longer own(s) more than 5 percent of Comcast’s stock. At the end of 2007, Microsoft owned 7.26 percent of Comcast’s Class A common shares.

A report in the Philadelphia Business Journal notes there’s been no love lost between Comcast and Microsoft in the interactive TV space. Microsoft invested $1 billion in Comcast back in 1997.

Update: Microsoft’s official statement on the move, from a corporate spokesman:

“This (sale of Comcast) was a routine part of Microsoft’s portfolio management and was unrelated to the cost-cutting moves since reported.”

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Comcast Corp., Microsoft Corp., TVs, Investment, Tv & Home Theater, Personal Technology, Home Entertainment, Finance, Mary Jo Foley

Mary Jo has covered the tech industry for more than 25 years for a variety of publications and Web sites, and is a frequent guest on radio, TV and podcasts, speaking about all things Microsoft-related. She is the author of Microsoft 2.0: How Microsoft plans to stay relevant in the post-Gates era (John Wiley & Sons, 2008).

Disclosure

Mary-Jo Foley

Freelance journalist/blogger Mary Jo Foley has nothing to disclose. WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get). I do not own Microsoft stock or stock in any of its partners or competitors. I have no business ventures that are sponsored by/funded by Microsoft or any of its partners or competitors.

Biography

Mary-Jo Foley

Mary Jo Foley has covered the tech industry for 25 years for a variety of publications, including ZDNet, eWeek and Baseline. She has kept close tabs on Microsoft strategy, products and technologies for the past 10 years. In the late 1990s, she penned the award-winning "At The Evil Empire" column for ZDNet, and more recently the Microsoft Watch blog for Ziff Davis.

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RE: Microsoft dumps Comcast shares
dfwekrwe86-24353646616525116542627389441382 Updated - 11th Nov
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0 Votes
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Who will last
cowatson 20th Jan 2009
After tinkering with Windows Media 7 and seeing the capabilities in Media Center, it will be interesting to see whether Comcast or Direct TV becomes the first to partner with someone like ATI and create an internal card that can descramble HD signal for the PC for valid subscribers and embrace Media Center as a viewing option..I imagine it will be Direct TV, comcast seems to fight partnering in every way.
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RE: Microsoft dumps Comcast shares
joe1972 20th Jan 2009
I think (and hope) this marks the start of a strategy
shift away from the cable/telecoms companies to the
content owners. If the cable companies aren't willing
to shift to new advertising methods - then maybe the
content owners will strike a deal on the lines of
Hulu.
With the economy the way it is, it sure is going to be
tempting to ditch the cable tv bill and just pay
internet access - maybe with XBOX or Media Center as a
client.
0 Votes
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Comcast in more hot water
GuidingLight 20th Jan 2009
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28753972

Maybe Microsoft became tired of dealing with Comcast.

Lord knows I am... happy
0 Votes
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Well, their service is pretty good
Lerianis 21st Jan 2009
But that 250 GB limit that they have put on account is,
by order of magnitudes, too low. They also haven't put
that 'bandwidth monitor' on their site that they said
they were going to put on there.
0 Votes
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Good
John L. Ries 20th Jan 2009
I don't think software vendors should be in a position of dictating to ISPs or media providers (and yes, if a large software vendor owns a significant portion of your stock, you're going to listen).
0 Votes
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Using the money ?
Alan Smithie 21st Jan 2009
For a yahoo bid maybe ?
0 Votes
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Nope....
i8thecat 21st Jan 2009
"For a yahoo bid maybe ?"

Nope... gonna buy some more "Vista doesn't suck that bad", "adjust your shorts", advertising.

Money well spent if you ask me.... BwaHaHaHa
0 Votes
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RE: Microsoft dumps Comcast shares
Dilberter 21st Jan 2009
When Comcast bought my cable co.; they disallowed a part of each subscribers cable agreements which provided about 30 channels free in addition to paying for various services. they did this by disconnecting each subscibers access to the 30 channels abruptly without giving us the option to pay for them. I thought I had cable problems and called them up and they were abusive and made me feel like I had been stealing the channels; despite access being in the old agreement. I eventually paid extra to get the channels back. When the time came for me to get faster internet; I shafted them by going with Verizon. Perhaps Microsoft realized that dealing with the executives at Comcast was less than satisfactory for business dealings and decide to look elsewhere for their entry into this area.
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RE: Microsoft dumps Comcast shares
william_weaver@... 21st Jan 2009
I've had Comcast cable in Arlington, VA and in the Knox co. Indiana area and both services reeked, they were hard to reach (gave you phone numbers in one area of the US and then kept telling you I'm sorry but you need to call, over and over), cable system and internet was off and on. When they were finally bought out by AvenueBroadBand, I called expecting a hassle but they answered helped me and thanked me for calling, I think its love. Comcast bought out Insite in my mom's area and now all she does is complain about her service. What a rotten useless company.
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RE: Microsoft dumps Comcast shares
Liberty&Freedom 21st Jan 2009
I despise monopolies. Fair competition benefits everyone. A monopoly encourages complacency and reduces incentive to improve.

Having said that, Comcast has done a good job of improving service and customer service.

I have experienced Comcast service in a dozen markets across the country, and it varies wildly: install/service techs who are on the ball to those who are as useless as boobs on a bull, and the same with both phone and in-office personnel. Sometimes an acquired local cable company was horrible, and the staff has not come around or been replaced yet. Sometimes the staff was unhappy at being acquired and loses motivation, or deliberately seeks to "give the bully a black eye." There is no single answer.

Similar points can be made about Verizon, local utility monopolies, and other 800 pound gorillas.

Consider this:
Comcast receives 200 million calls a year.
If they were able to achieve a 99% satisfaction level, that would still leave 2 million callers dissatisfied.
Given that a pi$$ed-0ff customer is more likely to complain than a happy customer is to praise, and given that Comcast's customers are largely web-users, it is reasonable to expect that the unhappy customers will have voice louder than their extreme minority status would normally dictate.
0 Votes
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Comcast doing good.. future murkey tho
DocNasty 22nd Jan 2009
LF -- I couldn't agree with you more.. You're forgetting tho, services like 'TVMax' and other private label systems in all of the major cities keep them from being a monopoly.. But internet/cable/phone is blurring the lines between a company and a public utility...

But, 2 things to remember.. (not in contrast to anything.. just to keep in mind)
1) Comacast rarely builds new systems.. they buy old ones, and usually re-engineer them.. usually for the better.
2) In many cities, Comcast uses local cable 'contractors' for service.. Take Houston for instance.. I have comcast approved techs come out in white trucks with comcast magni-stickers on them. TimeWarner used to house a completely internal Tech Team.

All in all, Comcast is doing good.. but they fail at managed services.. The other thing is, when a public company is running the show, they are under pressure from groups that could damage their stock prices and the bottom lines. They eventually will cave to political actions, and the whim of the Govt. to screw the end user...

~Doc
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RE: Microsoft dumps Comcast shares
DocNasty 22nd Jan 2009
I dunno... Watch for net neutrality to get really big in the news again.. and watch Microsoft opt to purchase one of the failing telecoms to pick up their own internet.. It's the only place where google hasn't succeeded yet.. Being a net provider.
~Doc
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RE: Microsoft dumps Comcast shares
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