But DSL couldn't follow cable past 3 Mbps.
Don't, however, expect mainstream American television to follow cable's example.
Interestingly, there has never been a long-form, original hit created on the web, even though operations like Pseudo tried to follow cable's big studio model in the web's Wild West days.
"It has been good," said Thomas Watts, who follows cable and satellite for SG Cowen Securities.
"It was fishy to some investors," said Fred Moran, who follows cable for the investment bank of Jefferies & Company.
Aryeh B. Bourkoff, who follows cable for UBS Investment Bank, said he was also pleased that Comcast was cutting debt and key debt ratios.
It contributed revenue of $238 million and cash flow of $98 million last year, said Derek Baine, who follows cable programming for Paul Kagan Associates, a media consulting business.
"The regulatory environment is more benign than at any time since I started covering the industry," said Ms. Reif Cohen, who has followed cable companies for nearly two decades.
Tom Wolzien, who follows cable for Sanford C. Bernstein, noted that the USA Network cut its advertising rates last summer to help it sell all its slots for the current season.
Aryeh B. Bourkoff, who follows cable companies for UBS Warburg, said he believed that most of them would find a way to avoid brutal price competition.
