UPDATE 3-Comcast results better than expected, shares up

(Adds CEO interview beginning paragraph 8, updates shares)

By Yinka Adegoke

NEW YORK, May 1 (Reuters) - Comcast Corp (CMCSA.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the top U.S. cable operator, said on Thursday it sold more services than expected in the first quarter as it increased marketing to fend off competition from phone and satellite rivals, sending its shares up more than 6 percent.

Even though Comcast's subscriber base shrank in the quarter, its revenue per user increased as the company persuaded more customers to take its digital video, high-speed Internet and phone services.

Quarterly profit, excluding one-time gains, was in line with Wall Street forecasts, which reassured investors who were worried Comcast would be hurt by rivals like DirecTV Group (DTV.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), DISH Network Corp (DISH.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Verizon Communications Inc (VZ.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and AT&T Inc (T.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

"They met expectations, which is welcome news with Verizon and AT&T adding 400,000 subscribers in the quarter, which had to come from somewhere," said Chris Marangi, an analyst at Gabelli & Co, which owns Comcast shares.

Comcast, which has more than 24 million subscribers, said it lost 57,000 basic video subscribers during the first quarter, compared with nearly 83,000 additions a year-ago.

Eight analysts polled by Reuters had expected Comcast to lose around 73,000 basic subscribers.

But Comcast sold more than 1.4 million subscriptions in the quarter, versus the average expectation of around 1.2 million, according to Bear Stearns.