Peacock, Olympics Bolster Comcast Revenue Jump

Comcast’s total revenue jumped 20.4% in Q2 — up to $28.55 billion — and NBCU’s Peacock streaming service is a big reason why the conglomerate exceeded analysts’ expectations.

Peacock has 54 million signups as of this week, with more than 20 million active monthly users. 

CEO Brian Roberts said the Tokyo Olympics, which were a hot topic on Thursday’s earnings call, are an important incentive for Peacock subscribers.

• NBCU said it will turn a profit despite “bad luck” amid the global pandemic and vowed to spend more money on sports to improve their product for the Winter Olympics. 
• The Olympics aren’t Peacock’s only vital sports content. In January, the service struck a five-year deal with WWE worth more than $1 billion, adding over 1.2 million subscribers from the WWE Network.

Roberts said that the company is including Peacock at no additional cost for its 20 million Sky customers across Europe later this year. 

Sky TV showed a 28% revenue increase, posting $5.2 billion in the second quarter. Though the revenue increase is a positive sign, the network’s adjusted EBITDA margins fell 25.3% to $560 million.

As of July 15, NBCU had sold 85% of its in-game advertising inventory for Super Bowl LVI, the largest round of sports upfront negotiations in company history. It increased the asking price for ads up to as much as $6 million per 30-second spot.