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Internet Is Now Bigger Than TV for Comcast

Time to celebrate.

Congratulations, Comcast! You're now a broadband company.

The largest cable provider in the U.S. said this morning that it now has 22.5 million broadband subscribers, a hair more than its 22.3 million video, or cable TV, subscribers. While video still brings in more money than broadband—$5.4 billion versus $3.1 billion—the trend is clear: the company added 180,000 broadband customers in the quarter and lost 69,000 video customers.

Comcast first alerted analysts to the switchover a few months ago, saying May 4 that it would emphasize its internet-based offerings in an effort to continue attracting broadband subscribers. Since then, the company has announced an over-the-top streaming service called Stream that gives its broadband subscribers access to a selection of channels (including HBO) for $15 per month, and a service to stream select EA video games over the internet to your TV, no Xbox or PlayStation required. (Early reviews of this service, which requires an internet-connected video set-top box, are only so-so.) Call it the great convergence of home-based video entertainment, all delivered via a Comcast broadband connection.

So it turns out broadband can be a pretty great business when you've got a captive audience and a multimillion dollar lobbying budget designed to ensure favorable treatment by federal regulators (well, except for that whole merger thing). Who knew?