It’s no secret that linear TV and cable subscriber numbers have been falling for years now, which is a drag on Comcast’s traditional cable TV business. What is perhaps newer for Comcast is a decline in broadband internet customers due to increased competition from fiber and home wireless 5G internet. Comcast revealed in its latest earnings report that it lost 104,000 internet customers and 257,000 cable TV customers during the third quarter of last year due to customer switching from increased competition. In the industry this is referred to as “churn” where customers switch from one service to another looking for better deals. One way to combat this is with loyalty programs (think airline miles or hotel points) where customers are rewarded for staying put. Comcast has ha such a program for some time, but has made some changes for the better and included some hefty theme park discounts the their Universal Orlando Resorts parks in Florida.

Comcast has had a rewards program for years, but it was something customers had to opt into, which reportedly only about 30% of customers did. They’ve now launched a new “membership” program that all customers are automatically enrolled in with loyalty rewards/offers. Offers include things like free online movie rentals, digital copies of movies, gift cards to restaurants, sweepstakes entries and discounted theme park tickets! The program has membership tiers that include Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Diamond which are based on both tenure and the number of services to which a customer is subscribed:

• Silver is for customers who have been with the company for less than a year or are subscribed to one Xfinity service.
• Gold is for customers with one to five years of tenure or have two services.
• Platinum is for customers with ten years of tenure or have three services.
• Diamond is for customers with ten years of tenure or have four services.

I personally am a diamond member, so I can share those offers here. They include 3-day tickets for either a single park per day or multiple parks per day as well a VIP tours. Interestingly they currently include Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Florida, but not the new Epic Universe. The prices one these appear quite good and significantly cheaper than what the website normally offers starting at only $145/ticket for the 3 day single park option (which does vary based on the calendar, but only by $10-$20).

These are quite generous offers, so if you are an Xfinity or Comcast customer and are considering a trip to their theme parks it may be best to check out these offers before buying your tickets elsewhere. In many ways offering a discount to another one of your properties is a great strategy as it may provide incentive for people to take a vacation they might not otherwise have and of course spend on hotel, food, parking and other revenue sources other than the tickets. Falling revenue from traditional media is not unique to Comcast either as Disney has also reported declining TV revenue with the bulk of profits coming from theme parks and cruises. Both Disney and Comcast have offered customers discounted tickets in the past too, I just don’t remember the discount being this good. If you’re a Comcast customer you may want to check out the new membership program to see what freebies you can get including a potentially cheap trip to Universal.