Comcast chief financial officer Mike Cavanagh addressed the elephant in the room at the JP Morgan virtual Technology, Media & Communications conference Wednesday, telling the audience that while the company will look at every opportunity, it doesn’t believe it needs to do a big merger deal to survive.  

Cavanagh said that Comcast has the bandwidth to do deals and would look at any opportunity through a strategic lens. But he said there are other factors to consider, including whether an asset can be had for the right price, will add value and can help further execute the overall business strategy.

"Obviously, we know how to do that if necessary," Cavanagh said. "But hear me loud and clear: We like the hand we have, and M&A is not an answer. We like the hand we have without M&A, but we’ll obviously do what’s right for shareholders as time passes."

Cavanagh's comments come shortly after John Malone, who agreed to convert his super-voting shares in Discovery to facilitate the WarnerMedia deal, said that Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts had considered merging with WarnerMedia but backed off because of regulatory concerns.  

Analysts have wondered what effect WarnerMedia’s pending merger with Discovery will have on the rest of the business, and several have speculated that it could force companies like ViacomCBS, Comcast, Fox and Disney into looking for big deals. On Wednesday, Amazon said it would purchase movie studio MGM for $8.45 billion, a move that most likely wasn’t motivated by the Discovery deal. But the Amazon/MGM deal is another example of how even large streaming video providers feel they need more scale. 

Comcast, which has about 42 million signups to its own streaming service Peacock, has been under some pressure from analysts who have speculated that spinning off its NBCUniversal programming business would unlock value. At the JP Morgan conference, Cavanagh didn’t talk about spinoffs, but said that making acquisitions doesn’t always lead to success. 

"Just because you own something or buy it from the other guy, it doesn’t mean you’re going to operate it well," Cavanagh said. "So, we’ve been very focused on making sure when we acquire stuff, we do not take lightly the ability to operate well, execute well. And that’s critical if you’re going to go about it that way."

He added that M&A isn’t off the table, but there are other ways to gain scale, including partnering with other providers and investing in more content. 

"We can do what we need to do in a variety of different ways--invest in content as it is appropriate, partner with other people in some markets as it’s appropriate, and certainly we can consider M&A," Cavanagh said. "But there are a whole host of things you’ve got to face up to if you’re going to go down that third route."

Comcast said it has named Robert Eatroff as executive vice president, Global Corporate Development and Strategy, succeeding top executives Alexander Evans and Bob Pick, who will both leave at the end of the year.

Eatroff most recently was managing director and head of mergers & acquisitions at Morgan Stanley. He will report to senior executive vice president and Chief Financial Officer Michael Cavanagh. 

Eatroff will start his new job in January 2016. Evans was named EVP, Global Corporate Development and Strategy in 2013 and will join former Comcast CFO Michael Angelakis in his new investment firm backed by the cable company in January. Pick has been with Comcast for 26 years, most recently as senior vice president of corporate development. He will consult for the company on special projects when he retires at the end of the year.

“I’d like to thank Bob Pick for his more than 26 years of service and all he has done for Comcast as we have achieved stunning growth during his tenure,” Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts said in a statement. “With Alex Evans remaining within the Comcast family and Bob Eatroff joining us, we’re in a great position to continue that growth and pursue exciting new opportunities.”

Eatroff spent more than 20 years at Morgan Stanley in its investment banking division where he served as lead advisor on some of the firm’s largest and most high profile M&A transactions and has held many leadership positions, including leading their technology investment banking group on the East Coast.

“Bob Eatroff is a terrific talent and will be a great addition to our team,” Cavanagh said in a statement. “He is well known to Comcast, having advised the company on transactions for years, including the acquisition of NBCUniversal, and has extensive knowledge of an array of sectors, including technology, telecommunications, cable, media, and wireless. I’m thrilled he will be bringing his extensive experience to our company.”