Peacock, the streaming service of Comcast’s entertainment unit NBCUniversal, grew its third-quarter revenue and narrowed its loss to $436 million from a loss of $565 million in the year-ago period, which compared with a loss of $348 million posted for the second quarter of 2024. Boosted by the Summer Olympics in Paris, the streamer ended September with 36.0 million paying subscribers, compared with 33.0 million as of the end of June, the company also said on Thursday.
“Peacock revenue Increased 82 percent (year-over-year) to $1.5 billion; adjusted EBITDA improved compared to the prior-year period,” Comcast highlighted.
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 Summer Games. However, the streamer previously also unveiled price increases that went into effect on July 18 for new customers and Aug. 17 for existing subscribers.
TD Cowen analyst Gregory Williams had predicted a Peacock loss of $366 million in the third quarter and a subscriber gain to 36 million.
As streaming profits, which have so far been elusive for most industry giants, remain in focus for Wall Street, Peacock previously posted a full-year 2023 loss of $2.75 billion. But Comcast CFO Jason Armstrong earlier this year emphasized that “2023 marked the peak in annual losses at Peacock, and for 2024 we expect to show meaningful improvements in losses, versus 2023.”
Meanwhile, Comcast on Thursday also reported that its core cable and telecom business once again lost pay-TV and broadband subscribers in the third quarter.
Quarterly revenue in the conglomerate’s studios segment was driven by the strong box office performances of Despicable Me 4 and Twisters. Universal also released Speak No Evil and The Wild Robot in September.
“We delivered an incredibly successful Paris Summer Olympics that helped fuel double-digit percentage growth in Peacock revenue and paid subscribers and contributed to NBC’s #1 ranking for the 2023-2024 season,” Roberts said. “We also released the universally acclaimed Despicable Me 4, which grossed nearly $1.0 billion in worldwide box office, and announced the grand opening of Universal Epic Universe in May 2025, which will be the most ambitious and technologically sophisticated theme park ever created. Overall, it was a very active and successful quarter, and I couldn’t be more pleased with how our team is executing and positioning our company for long-term growth.”
