Cable’s triple play is turning into a multi-dimensional effort designed to take advantage of its monopoly positions in cable TV and broadband (with mobile coming down the pike). Data collection and targeted advertising is on its agenda, as it is with phone company ISPs. Right now Comcast and other cable companies are working to build an interactive ad system— which raises all kinds of privacy, data collection, interactive marketing and consumer protection, and antitrust issues. This is no slow cable boat adrift on the digital sea, but a well-funded effort that–in part–is connected to Project Canoe. So we were not surprised when we saw this quote from Mr. Roberts during a February 2008 call with analysts: “Over the last few years we have successfully transformed Comcast from a cable company into a new products company that utilizes one infrastructure to deliver a growing number of products.”
