Comcast and ViacomCBS Team Up for European Streaming Service

Two big rivals in U.S. media are teaming up to launch a streaming service in Europe.

SkyShowtime will combine the libraries of NBC and Peacock owner Comcast with that of ViacomCBS. The venture will be owned 50-50 by the two media conglomerates and launch in over 20 European countries, including Spain, Poland, and all of Scandinavia. 

• The service will not overlap with another recently announced partnership between Paramount+ and Comcast-owned Sky, which will launch the ViacomCBS streaming service in the U.K., Italy, and Germany.
• ViacomCBS’s Paramount+ has 42 million subscribers. Comcast’s Peacock has 52 million.

Comcast bought European media giant Sky for $39 billion in 2018. Sky broadcasts a slew of sports, including the Premier League, Bundesliga, and Formula 1.

In the U.S., the two companies often compete for the same sports audiences. 

Both will pay the NFL around $2 billion annually from 2023-2033 for broadcasting rights and a place in the rotating Super Bowl schedule.

CBS and NBC are also the main broadcasting partners of the PGA Tour, with ESPN+ joining the fold on a roughly $680 million, nine-year set of deals signed in 2020.