Comcast Standing on Top in a Changing Society

Comcast's Market Strategies In Changing Business Environments There is much controversy with regard to Comcast and to its current position in the media industry. The company has seen significant progress in the last two decades, but the fact that its competition seems to adopt more modern attitudes makes it difficult for it to stay on top. Comcast's past risky actions made it possible for people to understand its overall behavior and to consider that it prefers to invest significant amounts of resources in order to achieve its goals.

The company appears to have observed the vulnerable state of the market at the moment with internet services from a series of suppliers taking over the U.S. and directed its attention toward new ventures, further suggesting that it is unhesitant about taking on chancy endeavors. Much of the contemporary society is concentrated on using the internet as an alternative to conventional services. This also means that people often choose internet-related services instead of traditional ones.

Comcast's customer service database was previously mainly based on phones, with customers ringing in and waiting to have their queries addressed. Things have changed in recent years, however, and the company has noticed a significant increase in the number of customers wanting their issues solved via the internet. Comcast's response has certainly been impressive, as the company has installed a series of mediums meant to improve the way that customers interact with it.

According to the Comcast's spokesperson Jennifer Khoury, "we have thousands of people answering service calls on the phone, and for many customers that's great. But some people would rather go online, and we want to make sure to give them that choice." (Kline) The company has taken a series of actions with the purpose to regulate matters, with new services provided ranging from online aps making it possible for customers to know when a technician is about to visit their homes to 24/7 online support in English and Spanish (Kline).

Comcast's attempt to purchase Time Warner Cable is probably one of the most controversial events in the company's recent history. The deal should have happened at the beginning of 2015 and Comcast emphasized all of the changes it was about to do if it were to actually happen. The Federal Communications Commission was among the bodies that disproved of this deal and that lobbied with regard to the damage that it would have caused to the industry.

Competition laws were apparently in contradiction to an event such as the one that Comcast was about to perform. The deal would have had devastating consequences on the company's rivals, as it would have presented Comcast with the opportunity to control too much of the industry, to the degree to which its rivals would have had no option but to act in accordance with its demands (Balto).

The Federal Communications Commission highlighted the overall situation involving Comcast and Time Warner and the fact that such a merger would affect parts of the industry: "According to Mr.

Sallet's remarks, the staff's core concern was that a larger Comcast would have an increased incentive and ability to disadvantage OVDs in order to protect its video business by (1) contractually restricting OVD access to programming, and (2) denying or degrading OVD access to Comcast's broadband network through interconnection." (Balto) Regardless of whether or not this would have actually happened, this move is yet another example of Comcast's market strategies.

The company has become accustomed to taking on risky missions and invest a great deal of resources in fields it believes are likely to benefit it in the long run. Some might have regarded purchasing Time Warner Cable as an act that would bring along a great deal of issues, considering the company's outdated condition and the fact that many of its previous customers have turned to other suppliers. Comcast has a history of getting involved in activities that most similar companies would be reluctant to consider.

The company's recent purchase of 51% of Universal Studios Japan stands as the perfect example concerning such actions. "The NBCUniversal unit of Comcast said it planned to use the acquisition to build its presence in Japan and to extend its theme park interests." (Tsang) The fact that the company extends its influence as far as Japan should not necessarily be perceived as an attempt to recover from the controversial position it is currently in. The firm's management obviously understands the importance of investing in concepts that most of its rivals ignore.

The company seems to have understood the profits it can gain from the economically thriving Asian market and has thus started to invest significantly on the continent in an attempt to secure its position there.

"Comcast announced in October 2014 that its Universal Parks and Resorts unit would build a theme park in Beijing." (Tsang) The fact that Comcast chose to invest significantly in Asian countries with strong economies first further emphasizes the company's interest in reducing the risks associated with actions that already involve a great deal of problems due to cultural differences.

Taking into account recent events happening in Comcast's structure, it appears that the company needs to change a great deal of its philosophy in order to remain one of the most successful companies in the U.S. Internet-related issues are among the most intriguing when considering this topic, as Comcast's history means that the company has centralized a great deal of its activities in environments that are not connected to the internet. As previously mentioned simply providing a customer-support base can be difficult in the contemporary society.

Although Comcast has realized this relatively late (partly due to its traditional focus on cable television), it appears that matters are going to change in the future, with the company investing heavily in tools that are likely to assist it greatly in the industry.