Peacock Q1 losses reduced to $215 million

NBCUniversal’s streaming service, Peacock, had some good news to share in their latest financial report. They managed to cut their losses in the first quarter of the year by a significant 66%, down to $215 million from $649 million a year ago. While things are looking up, executives at Comcast, Peacock’s parent company, are keeping an eye on the possibility of economic challenges ahead with a potential US recession looming.

Peacock’s revenue showed an impressive 16% increase to $1.2 billion in Q1, and their subscriber base grew from 36 million at the end of 2024 to 41 million by the end of March. A deal with Charter Communications provided subscribers free access to the ad-supported version of Peacock, contributing to this growth.

Revenue for NBCU’s studios division also saw a bump, up 3% to $2.8 billion, with content licensing up 3.5% to $2.2 billion. Theatrical revenue, however, took a hit. Despite this, EBITDA increased from $244 million in Q1 2024 to $298 million this year.

Comcast’s overall media division revenue increased by 1% to $6.4 billion. While international networks revenue was up 14% to $1.2 billion, domestic advertising saw a nearly 7% drop to $1.9 billion. Cord-cutting continued in the quarter, with 427,000 customers leaving, showing improvement from the previous year.

Comcast is currently in the process of separating its cable business, with USA Network and CNBC set to spin off into a new entity, leaving Peacock and NBC under NBCU. Mike Cavanagh, President of Comcast, expressed optimism about Peacock’s future, noting that the service is making progress towards better monetization, increased scale, and reduced losses over time.

While economic challenges may be on the horizon, Comcast feels well-prepared to navigate whatever comes their way. They are confident in Peacock’s trajectory and are ready to tackle any obstacles that may come their way.