The media unit of US giant Comcast, which houses the NBCUniversal broadcaster and the Peacock streaming service, saw revenue increase by 2.1% year-on-year for the second quarter of 2024.
That slight rise was “due to higher domestic distribution and international networks revenue, partially offset by lower other and domestic advertising revenue,” Comcast said yesterday (July 23) in disclosing its financials for the three months up to June 30.
Overall, revenue for the media unit reached $6.32 billion, as opposed to $6.19 billion in the second quarter of 2023.
Domestic distribution levels increased by 5.7% (to $2.7 billion), while domestic advertising revenue dropped by 1.7% (to $1.99 billion).
Comcast has said the distribution-based revenue rise has come on the back of higher Peacock subscriber numbers and revenue.
International networks, meanwhile, brought in $1.1 billion of income, up 6.5% from the prior year number of $1.03 billion.
Adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) in the media unit jumped by 9% to $1.4 billion.
For Peacock specifically, the service brought in $1 billion of revenue during Q2, with that figure representing an increase of 28%.
It also narrowed its losses (year-on-year) from $651 million to $348 million.
At the end of June, the service had 33 million subscribers, as opposed to 24 million the prior year.
Peacock lost $2.75 billion in 2023, with Comcast stating that last year represented the peak in terms of financial losses.
Price increases for the service will come into effect on August 17 for existing subscribers, having already been implemented earlier this month for new customers.
NBC and Peacock represent the US linear TV and streaming homes for the Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics, which begin on Friday (July 26). A 10-year deal with the International Olympic Committee runs through Brisbane 2032.
Peacock will be the most prominent platform for NBCUniversal’s Paris 2024 coverage as it looks to simplify the audience experience following low viewership figures during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, with the streamer being the home of all of the Olympics’ 329 medal events, a first for the sports broadcast mix in the US.
NBC is also currently concluding an 11-year rights deal with basketball’s NBA, reportedly for around $2.5 billion in total, through which it is set to show in the region of 100 games per season.
The new tie-up, which has been ratified by the NBA’s Board of Governors (but is still waiting for confirmation because of issues regarding which of Warner Bros. Discovery and Amazon will pick up a final rights package) is set to start in 2025-26.
In terms of the overall Comcast financial results, the heavyweight’s revenue dropped 2.7% year-on-year, to $29.68 billion.
For Q1, Peacock saw its losses shrink year-on-year from $704 million to $639 million, while during those three months, 3 million new subscribers were tallied.
The platform has added exclusive streaming NFL broadcast rights once more for its 2024 season, most notably its high-profile international markets fixture in Sao Paulo between the Green Bay Packers and Philadelphia Eagles, the first NFL game ever to take place in Brazil.
