The Nbcuniversal Peacock streaming service increased its fourth quarter income and reduced its loss to $ 372 million, against a loss of $ 825 million during the previous period 2023, Comcast reported on Thursday.
Annual income for Peacock in the results of the Comcast media division jumped 46% to $ 4.9 billion. For the fourth quarter, it amounted to $ 1.3 billion in revenues, against $ 1.0 billion during the period of the previous year. The streamer finished December with more paying subscribers than in the previous period. The Peacock sub-account at the end of 2024, scheduled as a rounded figure, was held at the same 36 million at the end of September and was up 31 million at the end of 2023, the company revealed.
Peacock has had his best month to date in August, marking the biggest share of the use of television in the United States in the history of four years of streamer, thanks to the Paris Summer Olympic Games. However, the streamer also launched price increases that came into force on July 18 for new customers and August 17 for existing subscribers.
Comcast President Mike Cavanagh, during a morning analyst call, predicted continuous improvement in income and pea losses in 2025 before streamer adding around 50 exclusive NBA games in the regular season and in series eliminations during the second half.
Meanwhile, the income and profits of the NBCU studios unit before interest, taxes, damping and damping (EBITDA) increased in the fourth quarter, driven by the success of the box office of WickedWith Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Michelle Yeoh, and The wild robot.
In the Comcast cable systems unit, the losses of 411,000 customers of the national customers of 311,000 people arrived below a drop of 389,000 a year earlier. The total net losses of the national large -band customer of 139,000 for the fourth quarter of 2024, including the modest negative impact associated with the hurricanes Milton and Hélène, against 34,000 in the same period of the previous year.
Cavanagh on the analyst’s call addressed abrupt abrupt abrupt losses, which he described as “disappointing” and greater forecasts than previous forecasts in December 2024. He cited competition on the market that remained “Intense, dynamic and varied in our fingerprint and customer segments, and we see any sign of this short -term change. »»
The total net additions of the interior wireless line were 307,000, almost unchanged by 310,000 a year earlier.
Comcast, directed by the president and chief executive officer Brian Roberts, unveiled a derivation plan for most of his wired networks in a distinct entity, led by Mark Lazarus as CEO, at the end of November. Cavanagh has spoken of Comcast seeking to turn many wired channels, which includes USA Network, Syfy, MSNBC and CNBC, to create a new network company.
“Spinco will be well placed to direct in the evolution of the landscape of cables and digital media,” he told analysts, and Nbcuniversal predict will remain on a “growth trajectory fueled by our world class content technology, Its properties and talents all working in concert with each with each other as an integrated media company. »»
Comcast CEO, Roberts, explained how the media conglomerate responded to the television public by continuing to spend cable networks inherited from streaming services by planning after programming on sports, entertainment and news based on gender.
He argued that 98% of the vision on Peacock does not come from networks intended for Spinco. “They therefore need their own direct digital initiatives to consumers and concentration and investment,” said Roberts.
“With the addition of something like the NBA, combined with the Olympic Games, combined with Sunday evening footballcombined with the first league, then shows as Jackal dayThere is something called the Americas To come, which will be on NBC, and using NBC to drive Peacock and vice versa more than maybe we have in the past, it is a very exciting business, “he added.
Spinco is expected to include cable channels like USA, CNBC, MSNBC, Syfy, E! And Golf Channel, as well as digital companies like Fandango and Rotten Tomatoes. The cable channel Bravo, the NBC Broadcast Network and Streaming Service Peacock will remain in the entertainment arm of Comcast Nbcuniversal.
Cavanagh said about reorganized media activity: “We do not really direct a peacock strategy only. We organize a broadcasting broadcasting strategy and seek to optimize this over the years to come. Comcast leaders told analysts that it was too early to fully grow how the planned spin-off of most wired networks in a separate entity under Lazarus will be carried out.
“I think we want to give them time and space to understand this,” Roberts told analysts.
The turnover of the fourth quarter studios increased by 6.7% to 3.27 billion dollars, theatrical income, theatrical income has climbed by 50%. Theatrical income has increased “due to the successful performance of recent versions, in particular Wicked And The wild robot“Said Comcast.
The BAIIA adjusted for the studios segment displayed a leap of almost 85% to $ 569 million due to the increase in income and the drop in operating expenses. The latter was due to lower marketing and promotion expenses.
The quarterly revenues of the media unit increased by 3.5% to 7.22 billion dollars, mainly due to the rise in domestic distribution revenues, which benefited from an increase in income in Peacock, “drawn by an increase in remunerated subscribers compared to the period of the previous year ”. International networks income increased thanks to the positive impact of foreign currencies and “an increase in income associated with the distribution of sports networks,” said the company.
The Baiia adjusted for the media division jumped from $ 175% to $ 298 million due to the increase in stable income and operating expenses. “Coherent operating expenses reflect coherent programming and production costs and lower marketing and promotion costs, compensated by other higher expenses, mainly due to the dismissal of this quarter,” said Comcast in a Communiqué, referring to the deletions of jobs. “Programming and production expenses were consistent due to a combination of programming costs lower than Peacock and the drop in domestic sports programming costs in our networks, compensated by an increase in content in our television networks entertainment, which were affected by writers and actors on the Guild Work Stopages screen during the period of the previous year. »»
Comcast’s shares fell 4% in prior trade at 8:00 a.m. Thursday, investors, investors seemed to focus on the drop in the large -band subscriber.
