Comcast reported its first-quarter earnings on Thursday with insight into its cable and streaming businesses.
For the quarter ending on March 31, the media empire generated earnings of $3.83 billion, up 7.8 percent from the same quarter one year ago. However, its revenue was down four percent at $29.69 billion this year. (CNBC)
EBITDA (Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) was $9.42 billion for the quarter, representing an increase of three percent.
WWE’s broadcast partner reported losing 614,000 cable subscribers throughout the quarter.
Peacock remains a major source of losses for the company with the streamer losing approximately $704 million throughout the quarter, although its revenue increased 45 percent to $685 million.
Peacock, which streams the monthly WWE premium live events, now boasts 22 million subscribers, which was up more than 60 percent from last year (which was the quarter that included the Super Bowl and Winter Olympics for NBC Universal).
Previously, Comcast had projected $3 billion in losses for Peacock in 2023, representing the peak of its losses.
Peacock launched in July 2020 and entered a five-year deal with WWE in March 2021 to become the exclusive distributor of the WWE Network in the United States including its premium live events.
Comcast’s stock is up over five percent on Thursday following news of the earnings report beating expectations.
Media consultant Patrick Crakes was a guest on Pollock & Thurston and spoke about the linear & streaming models
