By Scott Moritz, writer

Seeing no signs that the slowing economy is crimping consumer spending, Verizon (VZ) plans to raise prices on its nascent TV service.

The New York phone giant reported first quarter earnings that met Thomson Financial’s analyst estimate but missed the Bloomberg consensus by a penny Monday. On a conference call following the release, the company blamed the loss of a large former MCI business customer for some of the profit weakness.

The most striking news of all, however, was Verizon’s bullish take on consumer behavior. Verizon said it has been watching for warning signs, like increases in so-called uncollectible or deadbeat customers, but so far hasn’t seen anything to worry about. “I’ve seen no changes,” finance chief Doreen Toben told analysts on the call, referring to a spending slowdown.

Verizon is feeling so confident about paying subscribers that it plans a price hike.

“We will move up prices at the end of this quarter or next quarter,” Verizon executives said on the call. “We are very comfortable moving up the pricing at this point.”

The company said it probably won’t tamper with its $99-a-month promotional offer for its package of phone, Internet and TV services. Instead, officials said they’re looking to hike the price of the company’s a la carte TV service, which launched in 2005 and costs $48 a month.

Verizon has been winning business from cable companies like Comcast (CMCSA), Time Warner Cable (TWC) and Cablevision (CVC) as it pushes its Web video and TV strategy. On the flip side, as the cable companies have started selling phone services, telcos like AT&T (T) and Verizon have seen the decline in landline phone subscribers accelerate. In the first quarter, Verizon’s total phone line count dropped 8.2% from the prior year, a slight increase over the 8.1% pace for 2007. And residential lines fell by an eye-popping 10.9% from the same quarter a year ago.

Raising prices in the face of a economic slowdown is a bold move that borrows from the cable industry’s long-held strategy of continual rate hikes. Two things work in Verizon’s favor here, says one analyst: Phone and TV subscribers aren’t known to be the most vigilant consumers. They may not even notice they’re paying more.

Verizon’s about to find out.

By Stephanie Mehta

In his first-ever keynote address at the Consumer Electronics Show Tuesday, Comcast  CEO Brian Roberts seemed to be saying content is king. (Not what you’d expect from the nation’s largest distributor of pay television.)

Roberts, who was joined by radio personality and “American Idol” host Ryan Seacrest for part of his speech, told the Las Vegas audience Comcast (CMCSA) is embarking on a strategy to make a vast library of professionally produced video content available through its “on demand” channel. “Project Infinity plans to give consumers the best and most content they will find on demand anywhere — more HD, more sports, more movies, kids’ programs and network TV,” Roberts said.

The announcement was a shot at satellite television operators DirecTV (DTV) and Echostar (SATS), which have been pledging to deliver 100 channels in high definition. (DirecTV says it now broadcasts some 85 national channels in high def.) Comcast doesn’t offer as many so-called “linear” channels in high-definition, so it isn’t surprising Roberts is touting new two-way technology that will enable it to deliver high-definition video programming on demand.

In addition, Roberts said the company was boosting its library of movies on demand (not necessarily all of them in HD).

Comcast also announced the launch of Fancast.com, a website aimed at helping consumers find, organize, view and even purchase video entertainment. The site is a sort of mash-up of entertainment database IMBD.com, online retailer Amazon, TVGuide and some of the fun, Web 2.0 apps one can find on Facebook.

One reason Roberts might be emphasizing content is because the distribution business is out of favor with investors right now. Comcast’s stock is trading near its 52-week lows, as are the stocks of Charter Communications (CHTR) and Time Warner Cable (TWC), which, like Fortune, is controlled by Time Warner (TWX).

In a recent interview, Roberts explained how cable can keep rivals from the satellite and phone businesses at bay. Content was the last thing he mentioned, but clearly programming is not an afterthought. “We have to innovate, have an open architecture and interoperate between cable companies, and our customer service has got to continue to reach new levels of excellence,” Roberts said. “We also have to have the most content, which we clearly do. Put together, we have a winning strategy.”

By Stephanie Mehta 

With the cable industry in the doldrums, at least one consultant expects companies such as Comcast (CMCSA), Time Warner Cable (TWC) and others may be headed for some downsizing. Shahid Khan, partner at IBB Consulting Group, recently said he thinks the big cable operators are going to spend the next two to four quarters focused on “operational efficiencies.”

“They’ve had the happy problem of growth,” says Khan. “Now that’s slowing down.”

Indeed, Time Warner Cable, whose biggest shareholder is CNNMoney parent Time Warner (TWX), today reported larger-than-expected declines in video customers, and missed some analysts’ profit estimates. Time Warner Cable’s lackluster numbers come two weeks after Comcast reported similarly uninspiring results, prompting investors to sell off the stock. Both companies’ shares are trading at or near their 52-week lows.

IBB’s Khan says the cable operators are in a bit of a holding pattern. They grew rapidly thanks to the offering of residential voice service and high-speed Internet, bundling those services with their core video product. But they’ve yet to debut the next big part of the bundle (and engine for additional growth): wireless service.

Where’s wireless? The cable operators have a joint venture with wireless operator Sprint Nextel (S) essentially to resell Sprint’s service to cable customers, but according to industry sources, that venture isn’t going well. The parties apparently are squabbling about a number of issues, including responsibility for customer service, among other details. It doesn’t help matters that Sprint is without a CEO. The cable guys also have acquired wireless spectrum but haven’t announced plans to build out a full-fledged network using those airwaves.

Meanwhile, the phone companies such as Verizon (VZ) and AT&T (T) are not standing by while cable grabs their phone and DSL customers. The telcos are fighting back with video products of their own, and apparently are having an impact in several key markets, such as the New York suburbs, Dallas and L.A.

And so Khan predicts some “network efficiencies” at some cable operators in the coming year. Our experience is that, when cable guys start talking about operational efficiencies, it usually means layoffs.

But he also sees some new products coming online that can help cable grow until their wireless strategies coalesce. He thinks switched digital video, a technology that frees up additional bandwidth on the cable network, will help operators deliver more high-definition channels over their pipes. And more high-def, argues Khan, should help the cable operators fend off competition from both phone and satellite companies touting their high-def offerings to lure cable customers.