NBCUniversal streaming service Peacock grew its fourth-quarter revenue and narrowed its loss to $372 million from a loss of $825 million in the year-ago period, with the full-year 2024 loss narrowing by “nearly” $1 billion from a $2.75 billion loss in 2023, Comcast reported on Thursday.
Full-year revenue for Peacock in Comcast’s media division results jumped 46 percent to $4.9 billion. For the fourth quarter, it amounted to $1.3 billion of revenue, up from $1.0 billion in the prior-year period. The streamer ended December with more paying subscribers than in the year-ago period, but the company didn’t detail a sub count compared with 36 million as of the end of September, the company said.
Peacock had its best month to date in August, scoring the largest share of TV use in the United States in the streamer’s four-year history thanks, to the Paris Summer Olympics. However, the streamer also launched price increases that went into effect July 18 for new customers and Aug. 17 for existing subscribers.
As streaming profits remain in focus for Wall Street, Comcast CFO Jason Armstrong had last year emphasized that “2023 marked the peak in annual losses at Peacock, and for 2024 we expect to show meaningful improvements in losses.”
Meanwhile, NBCU’s studios’ unit revenue and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) increased in the fourth quarter, driven by the box office success of Wicked, starring Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Michelle Yeoh, and more.
Comcast, led by chairman and CEO Brian Roberts and president Michael Cavanagh, unveiled a spinoff plan for most of its cable networks into a separate entity, led by Mark Lazarus as CEO, in late November, promising “a new growth trajectory” for the combined assets.
Said Roberts about 2024: “We had the best financial performance in our company’s 60-year history with record revenue, EBITDA and earnings per share along with significant free cash flow. Driving these results were the many accomplishments our teams have made across our six growth businesses, including 5 percent connectivity revenue growth in an intensely competitive environment, another 1.2 million mobile line additions, and a 5 percent increase in revenue for Business Services. We also had strong performance from our Studios, where we ranked number 2 in worldwide box office, and at Peacock, where we delivered revenue growth of 46 percent, fueled by a diverse slate of sports and entertainment content, including the incredibly successful Paris Olympics.”