Host this week on the communicators our guest is david cohen, comcast executive senior vice president. Hes here to talk about Telecommunications Development and regulation competition, etc. Mr. Cohen, whats included in your portfolio at comcast . Guest so i have a great portfolio, especially someone with adult attention deficit disorder. I like to divide my job into three buckets. One is administrative responsibilities, and i think id probably put my role as chief diversity officer as the lead responsibility, one that im most proud of in that bucket. Then i have an, terrible affairs bucket external affairs bucket including corporate communications, government affairs, regulatory affairs, public policy. And then a bucket of strategic responsibilities that i share with Brian Roberts and dave watson and steve burke and mike caf far, our cfo. So thats enough to keep me busy, thats for sure, but its also enough to make my job incredibly interesting because it is true that every day when i wake up, i have no idea whats going to come across my desk. Host well, lets start in the strategic area. Weve been hearing a lot about cord cutting in the past several years, is the current pay tv model outdated at this point . Guest so i dont think the current pay tv model is outdated. I think the current pay tv model is in transition. And i think that that transition is something weve been focused on for a number of years. And as has been the case every time when theres a competitive threat or a potential Business Model change, its helping to make us a Better Company. And so, you know, just by way of example on really a number of ways i could talk about this, but just by way of example we created, our engineers, our software developers, our App Developers created the x1 platform a couple of years ago which has transformed the way our customers watch television. And its a cloudbased interface. And so what did we do last year . Last year we integrated netflix into the x1 platform. So our customers can now watch netflix through x1. The enhanced search capability, our incredible voice remote, you can use your voice remote to search netflix, and you can when you use the voice remote and, for example, say scandal and scandal episodes come up, those that are all the scandal episodes are available, those that are on your dvr, those that are available on demand, those that are on netflix, those that you can purchase from sony which is the, you know, which is the producer of scandal. So from a customer perspective, were making it most convenient for customers to watch the video that they want to watch through our settop box with a, with an exfinty video subscription. And, of course, within the last few days we have announced youtube also being integrated into the x1 platform. So this is the way were adapting, and were embracing what customers want to see and trying to make it as convenient as possible for them to get access to all the video content they want to watch. Host well w lets bring our guest reporter in, and thats tony romm who is now with recode, longtime politico reporter. Thanks for being here. Thanks for having me. David, thanks for being here. Just to continue on the conversation, what do you think pay tv and cable look like 20 and 30 years from now . [laughter] guest im not sure i know what cable and pay tv look like 20 months from now. But look, i think that in at least a somewhat shorter time frame but longer than next year i think that world, i think were evolving in a way that is consistent with our vision of what were going to see. So i think were going to see a continued role for what ill call traditional Cable Television. I still think its hard for me to imagine that for live sports, the olympics, nfl football, baseball, world cup that most people are not going to want to watch those live sports on 60, 80, 90inch Television Sets in their game room or in their living room or even in a bar or sports bar. And i still think theres going to be a role for tv news in a classic television environment. But i a also think theyre but i also think theres going to be a continued growth in alternative sources for watching video whether they are the netflixs, the you talking abouts youtubes, facebook lives. Theres, i mean, you know, we have an app which is on the x1 platform, it is also on smartphones and tablets called watchable which is a collection of professionallyproduced, shortform video, news, comedy, entertainment. I think theres going to be a continued growth of a desire for people to watch video wherever they are. Theyre not going to watch all their video sitting in their homes. So the ability, the ability to be able to deliver video to smartphones and tablets for people on the go is going to become increasingly valuable as we go along. So i think, i mean, i think were going to see a continued evolution. I dont know that were going to see a revolution, at least in the next five to seven years in the way in which video is delivered, in the way in which video is consumed. But were going to continue to see movements as we have seen. And, you know, we look and we Pay Attention to our College Student customers and the way theyre consuming video and highspeed data. You know, we have an xfinity on campus product which is basically a highspeed product that includes a streaming feature with a skinny package of video content for College Students to get their broadband through xfinity but then through that subscription, to get a basic package of video content that they can watch on their laptops or smartphones or tablets. So its, i think were going to see more and more of an evolution of the way that customers want to receive their video, and we love the positioning that we have through our x1 platform and being able to evolve and deliver on that customer demand. I want to get the comcast positioning in a second, but first, you mentioned sports. Im curious for your thoughts as to where amazon and twitter and the tech side kind of plays into this. Theyre each looking to do more with sports. Guest right. You just mentioned that as a key thing for people getting cable in the first place, so how do you take them as threats . Guest look, i dont think whether its i dont know whether its threats, i happen to believe that competition makes the market work better and makes if you have new entrants competing, it makes the incumbents, it makes the incumbents better, sharper. So i think therell be some potential competition for sports rights, but again, you have to look at the Business Models that the amazons and facebooks might want to apply and twitters might want to apply in this space. I just dont hi the vast majority of i just dont think the vast majority of americans are going to watch the olympics on a smartphone. Its a completely different experience. And, but again theres room, theres room for a lot of different Business Models and ideas in this space, and, you know, look what our response was just from summer olympics in rio to Winter Olympics in south korea. We now have this arrangement with snapchat, and were going to be delivering a delivering olympic content in partnership with snap over the snapchat platform. I dont know how thats going to work yet, i dont know even exactly what its going to look like, but i think its making us a Better Company to say we do have customers who are fans of to lumbar picks who may not want to have their entire olympic experience be defined by the big screen tv in their homes. And so increasingly theres an interest in olympics content in, on the small screen and in a different format. So we went out and created this partnership, and well be working with snap to try and redefine to him pick the olympic experience for certain viewers who would like to see it in this way. So for Companies Like comcast to start to do more, to think about new lines of business, that sometimes requires you to go out and buy other companies or partner with those companies. So im curious for your thoughts about this administration, the Trump Administration, and its openness and its use on things like competition and antitrust. This is somebody on the campaign trail who specifically said he wanted to break up you guys. Whats your take on the Trump Administration and competition . Guest first of all, i feel compel to say this, and Brian Roberts pointed this out at the Goldman Sachs conference last week. We love our company. We, you know, postat t acquisition and Nbc Universal acquisition, we view ourselves as essentially strategically complete. So were not out there saying, oh, my god, to survive we have to find Something Else to buy. So i just want to make that clear. On the other hand, we have never viewed ourself as being foreclosed from the acquisition marketplace either domestically or internationally. Has to be the right deal, has to be something that we think enhances the quality of the company, enhances returns to shareholders, has will enhance shareholder value as a result of that. And i think theres no secret that overall this president and this administration is likely less hostile to horizontal growth or even vertical growth in the Telecom Space and elsewhere. Now, the president doesnt have a confirmed assistant attorney general for antitrust yet. Thats sort of a key player in the space. There is not a complete ftc under this administration. Thats the other key player in this space. But i think overall there is likely to be less hostility to Larger Companies and mergers and acquisitions that grow market share, you know, within our space and in other spaces in other industries. And i dont think thats a license for anything goes. I dont think thats what this, what this free market philosophy that is likely to present itself in this administration is, you know, is likely to say. But i think theres pretty clearly going to be less hostility and a greater willingness to allow, to allow the market to work and to allow companies to get bigger and to acquire or merge with other companies. So it doesnting give you pause when the president is tweeting about one of your competitors, at t, and its merger, its pursuit of time warner . Hes gone after that company, hes said repeatedly he wants to block that deal. Again, its not your company, but does it give you pause to see the president talking about transactions like that . Guest so the way, the way i talk about this is that i think the overarching philosophy of competition policy and antitrust enforcement in this administration is likely to lean toward the free market approach, be more hospitable to mergers and acquisitions. On the other hand, there is a populist streak in this president which we saw evidence itself multiple times on the campaign trail, and the populism and a populist approach could be a bit of a governor on m a policy overall in the administration. In terms of whether the president s tweets give me pause, i actually, i actually think ive and i could be wrong about this, and we could, we have to see the way this plays out, but i think most of what the president is doing on twitter is conversation. Its not policy. And its certainly a glimpse into the way in which he is thinking, but there are plenty of things that he has tweeted where a month later he has tweeted Something Else that in a different context is 180 degrees or 160 degrees different from what he originally tweeted. And i think there, so i think im and maybe im, maybe im immune to it, maybe im wrong, but im not, im actually less concerned than a lot of my friends about the president s tweets. I think, i think its a bit of a release valve for him, and i think that in that sense its not unhealthy. And i also think, you know, since general kelly has been chief of staff there have been, theres been a reduction of the tweets. And although theres still a lot of tweets, more of them are more controlled and are more substantive and are are less headscratching than some of the tweets pregeneral kelly were with all about. Sure. So some specific matters on the competition front at the fcc. Lets start with at t since we just briefly talked about it. Whats comcasts view, and have you spoken to the Justice Department about condition . Guest so we dont comment on other peoples deals. [laughter] thats a pretty rock solid position of the Company Since before i was at the company and since ive been at the company i really try and religiously observe. That i will say that in many ways i think the proposed at t acquisition of time warner is the ultimate compliment to Brian Roberts and his vision, because its a copycat of comcasts acquisition of Nbc Universal. And ill remind everyone at the time we announced that deal, there was a fair amount of criticism because it occurred at a time when content and contribution were being content and distribution were being split, and most people were moving in a different direction. Some people questioned brians vision, and he just had a very strong instinct and a very strong feel that content and distribution together could maximize consumer and shareholder value. And after six years of performance with that, i think that brians vision has been proven to be correct and that the at t, proposed at t acquisition of time warner is a perfect example of somebody else seeing that and saying, gee whiz, putting distribution and content together is a way to maximize customer as well as shareholder value. But have you been to the Justice Department to talk about potential conditions on this deal . Guest so, again, i just dont like talking about other peoples deals. I think that i dont like it when other people talk about our deals [laughter] so i want to preserve my ability to privately complain when people do that, so im just going to control myself and not talk about our views on that deal or anything that has occurred in the context of the governmental review of the deal. And understanding that, i still do have to ask about the other, sinclair tribune. What does that deal mean for comcast . Guest so, again, i dont comment on other peoples deals and im not going to comment on that deal. I think there are obviously implications for that deal in the broadcast ecosystem. And in fairness, theres probably some good things or potential good things for the company particularly on the Nbc Universal side. And there are some, and there are some potentially troubling issues for consumers. Im going to sort of leave the companies out of it. I think having that large, that large a block of local broadcast affiliates and almost inevitably put significant upward pressure on retransmission consent fees which are the number one driver of increases in cable prices for consumers these days. And, you know, youve seen the docket. There are economist studies that have been introduced into the record which, you know, which identify and highlight the potential anticonsumer implications of that transaction from the perspective of driving up retransmission consent fees. Host david cohen, it wouldnt be a communicators show if we didnt bring up Net Neutrality. As that process moves through the fcc and potentially through congress, whats your take on the new fcc with its full contingent and chairman pais position . Guest so i dont want to be presumptuous, but obviously the chairman has put out a notice of proposed rulemaking expressing an intention to move to reclassified broadband under title i to repeal, if you will, the misguided and dangerous reclassification of broadband under title ii that was effectuated by the wheeler fcc. By the way, i have to say in that i would note that tom wheeler was only one of the fcc chairs appointed by president obama. The other chair declined to reclassify broadband under title ii, properly recognizing the dangers of doing that, the potential adverse implications for investment incentives and continued growth of the internet and the lack of a necessity for doing that because there are are other ways to be able to put in place Net Neutrality regulations. And so i think thats the direction that chairman pai appears to be heading which is we dont need title ii. Title ii is dangerous. Title ii has negative implications for investment and consumer welfare. But the nprm squarely tees up the question of what should Net Neutrality rules be and what is the best way to impose those net true neutrality Net Neutrality rules. So when i keep read anything the press by the way, including nbc press that chairman pai is attempting to repeal Net Neutrality, thats not what the nprm says. I cant read his mind, but i dont think that is what he intends to do. It is not what comcast is looking for. I dont believe its what the other, what the rest of the isp community is looking for. Were looking for a reclassification of broadband under title i which for 20 or 30 years under democratic and republican fccs allowed the internet to thrive, encouraged private sector investment. Were also looking and are supportive of strong, enduring Net Neutrality rules. No block, no throttling, no to discrimination no discrimination, full transparency. The basic gamut of Net Neutrality principles and rules that started when Michael Powell was chairman of the fcc and that have protected consumers and enabled the internet to thrive for at least a couple of decades. I think thats the direction that chairman pai and at least the majority republican fcc are heading. Obviously, they have to wait for the vote to do that. I think that there is enough controversy around sources of authority to impose those rules that im hoping everyone is going to come to the conclusion that the right answer here is bipartisan congressional legislation that put