With Peacock subscribers now reaching 33 million, Comcast Corp. Chairman and CEO Brian Roberts said NBCU's streaming service is off to "an exceptional start."
The 33-million-customer mark represents a gain of nearly 27% from the more than 26 million sign-ups that NBCU CEO Jeff Shell reported at an investor conference on Dec. 8, 2020.
Roberts on Comcast's Jan. 28 earnings call said the addition of sitcom "The Office" to Peacock’s lineup on Jan. 1, following a long streaming run on Netflix Inc., is driving incremental users, who are also finding such fare as "Parks and Recreation," the Paramount Network (US) ranching drama "Yellowstone," and the reimagining of "Saved by the Bell."
He also highlighted movies from Universal and other studios, and sporting events such as the U.K.'s top soccer circuit the Premier League, golf, and the NFL wild card game as drivers for the service. "Modern Family" will be coming to Peacock next month, followed by World Wrestling Entertainment Inc.'s WWE Network in March.
Despite this momentum and already reaching the mid-range of estimates that had put Peacock active accounts between 30 million and 35 million by 2024, Shell did not lift targets for the service, even though it is up "significantly over all of our metrics versus what we anticipated going into the business." Peacock debuted for Comcast customers on April 15, 2020, and became available nationally three months later.
Shell said the company is confident it has found the right business model with Peacock, which offers 13,000 hours of current. A premium version with additional content is also available for $4.99 per month, or $9.99 per month without commercials.
He noted that people are using Peacock more than expected and advertisers are very interested in buying against it and reaching this group.
"This steady growth is very promising for us. And we don't have anything to reframe at this point, but I think that the performance ... is much better than we expected, gives us a lot of optionality going forward," he said. "But we're just going to continue to drive this business model now and focus on the advertising revenue."
During Peacock's launch year, Comcast CFO Michael Cavanagh said the service will generate over $100 million in revenue, while sustaining an EBITDA loss approaching $700 million. "We continue to expect that EBITDA losses for 2020 and 2021 combined for Peacock will total roughly $2 billion," he said.
Starting with the first quarter of this year, Cavanagh said NBCU will begin reporting its TV results differently, combining its cable and broadcast businesses, alongside Peacock.
NBCU’s revenue fell 18.1% year over year to $7.50 billion in the fourth quarter of 2020, down from $9.15 billion.
At the cable networks, revenue decreased 6.4% to $2.74 billion. Content licensing and other sources fell 37.9% owing to the timing of fare provided under agreements, while advertising was off 4.2%, reflective of continued ratings declines and lower client spending, stemming in part from pandemic-related delays in the NBA and NHL seasons. Distribution revenues were essentially flat, as a decrease in subscribers was countered by higher rates.
Broadcast television revenue declined 12% year over year to $2.78 billion in the fourth quarter of 2020. Content licensing plummeted 38.6% owing to the timing of licensing agreements, while advertising revenue was down 9.6% due to pandemic production delays that slowed the launch of the fall TV season. Distribution and other revenue advanced 10%, owing to higher retransmission-consent fees.
At the filmed entertainment unit, revenue fell to $1.43 billion, reflective of a 70% fall in theatrical revenue, owing to ongoing theater closures. Other revenue decreased 49.6%, primarily due to decreases in revenue from Comcast's movie ticketing, entertainment and live stage play businesses. Conversely, content licensing revenue increased 22.7%, driven by the performance of certain 2020 releases that were made available on premium video on demand, as well as the timing of content provided under licensing agreements.
NBCU’s theme parks sustained the most damage in the quarter, with revenue falling 62.9% to $579 million, stemming from the limited capacities at Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Japan, and the continued closure of Universal Studios Hollywood in the face of the pandemic.
Parent Comcast registered a 2.4% decrease in total revenue to $27.71 billion. Quarterly net income attributable to the company amounted to $3.38 billion, or 73 cents per share, compared to net income of $3.16 billion, or 68 cents per share, in the prior-year quarter.
Comcast’s full-year revenue decreased 4.9% to $103.56 billion from $108.94 billion. Net income attributable to the company was $10.53 billion, or $2.28 per share, down from net income of $13.06 billion, or $2.83 per share, in the prior year.
