Comcast Buys Three Small Cable Systems

It may pale in comparison to some of its much larger mega-deals of the past few years, but Comcast continues to be on the hunt for cable systems, snapping up a trio of tiny properties in the past month.

According to the Denver Post, the nation’s largest cable operator -- and the largest cable company in Colorado -- acquired two small Denver-area systems from Champion Broadband with a total of about 2,000 subscribers.

Earlier in the month, Comcast was the lone bidder for a municipal cable system in New Wilmington, Pa. (about 60 miles north of Pittsburgh), with 900-1,000 customers

The Champion systems are located in Denver and Lakewood, Colo., near Comcast’s Denver cable stronghold. According to the Post, Comcast has about 820,000 customers in Colorado, with 120,000 in Denver.

Champion is headed by WideOpenWest founders Mark and David Haverkate, who formed Champion in 2003 after leaving WOW. Champion still has about 7,000 customers in Colorado, California and Wyoming.

The New Castle News said Comcast was the lone bidder -- at $2 million -- for the municipal cable system in New Wilmington, which offers about 70 channels. It also provides Internet service to about 200 residents. The New Wilmington Borough Council will decide whether to sell the system to Comcast at its Aug. 6 meeting, according to the paper.