Comcast’s Olympic Gold: Paris Games Spark Peacock Subscriber Surge

The 2024 Paris Olympics were a major rebound for the entire Olympic movement after two prior Games marred by the COVID-19 pandemic. Now we know how much they also boosted NBC Sports and Peacock parent Comcast.

The company said Thursday that it generated $32.1 billion in revenue, up by 6.5% from the comparable period last year, and $1.12 in adjusted earnings per share, up 3.3%, during the third quarter. Both figures beat analyst projections. Peacock, which showed all of the Paris Olympics live, increased its subscriptions by 9% from the prior quarter to 36 million and increased its revenue by 82% to $1.5 billion.

While there are certainly many other facets of Comcast’s sprawling operations, Paris was the halo illuminating the company’s entire quarter. The event generated a company-record $1.9 billion in incremental media revenue from the Olympics, generated largely through advertising sales and new Peacock subscriptions.

“It was probably the proudest moment that I can think of since we’ve owned NBCUniversal, or certainly right up there,” Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts said of Paris in an earnings call with analysts. “Just a tremendous team effort, really bringing the whole country into the drama. … We really look forward to [Los Angeles] in four years, we’ve got Milan in between [in 2026], and we go on from there.”

The Comcast earnings report was the first since the Paris Olympics, which generated an 82% viewership lift compared to 2021. 

A Different Corporate Structure?

Comcast president Mike Cavanagh, meanwhile, also announced Thursday that Comcast is exploring a spin-off of its cable TV networks such as CNBC, MSNBC, USA Network, and E! into a separate, publicly traded company. The move comes as the linear television business continues to undergo unprecedented upheaval in an age of accelerating cord-cutting and cord-nevering. 

“Like many of our peers in media, we’re experiencing the effects of the transition of our video business and have been studying the path forward for these assets,” Cavanagh said. “To that end, we are now exploring whether creating a new, well-capitalized company owned by our shareholders and comprised of our strong portfolio of cable networks would position them to take advantage of opportunities in the media landscape and create value for our shareholders.”

That consideration does not include NBC’s broadcast operations. The potential separation could also allow Comcast the ability to focus more on scaling Peacock, which is an increasingly important part of the company’s overall business. 

Comcast’s cable distribution business also is facing more pressure, as it lost another 365,000 video subscribers during the period, ending the quarter at 12.8 million. A year ago, that subscription number stood at 14.5 million.