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A week after wrapping its upfront talks, NBCUniversal announced Peacock climbed to 24 million subscribers, a gain of 2 million from last quarter.
That’s nearly double the 13 million it reported just a year ago, but losses are still high. Though revenue rose 85% to $820 million, Peacock lost $651 million in the second quarter and $704 million in the previous one.
The majority of its subscriber gains came from converting Comcast subscribers who previously got the service for free into paying customers. The ad-supported Peacock Premium tier ($4.99 per month) was previously available to Xfinity customers since the service’s launch in 2020. That complimentary offering ended in June.
“We began an effort to transition Comcast bundled subscribers who received Peacock for free to a paid relationship,” CFO Jason Armstrong said during Thursday morning’s earnings call.
“We’ve made some nice progress to date as the conversion activity drove Peacock second-quarter subscriber growth, and we’re bullish on further increasing our Peacock subscriber base through the balance of 2023,” Armstrong added, pointing to continued conversion efforts and a strong programming slate for the back half of the year.
That programming includes the arrival of the Super Mario Brothers film in August, next-day Bravo content and the fall sports lineup that includes Sunday Night Football and Big Ten.
Last week, Comcast raised Peacock’s prices for the first time, upping Peacock Premium to $6 per month and Premium Plus by $2 to $12 per month. For current subscribers, those changes kick in on Aug. 17.
Fall’s slate
As for the ongoing writers and actors strikes, Dave Watson, president and CEO of Comcast Cable, said the company is committed to reaching a fair deal with the guilds as soon as possible.
“For all involved in the industry broadly, a prolonged work stoppage and the longer it goes, the worse it will be,” said Watson. “The longer a strike, the more that could have an effect as you look into 2024 and beyond.”
Watson again pointed to the company’s fall sports slate as a strength and said he feels “optimistic” for the second half of the year for Peacock.
The second quarter was the first full quarter for NBCUniversal without a full-time CEO following Jeff Shell’s firing in April. Comcast president Mike Cavanagh took over the division, giving additional responsibility to execs Donna Langley, Mark Lazarus and Cesar Conde.
