Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) is preparing to separate its media businesses, and NBCUniversal Media Group Chairman Matt Strauss said the move is expected to increase the company’s flexibility and speed without changing its core strategy.
Speaking at a Bank of America conference, Strauss described NBCUniversal’s portfolio—including NBC, Bravo, Peacock, NBC Sports, NBC News and Telemundo—as a group of assets designed to work together. He said the company reorganized its media operations about 18 months ago into centralized programming, marketing, advertising, product and technology functions, with a “content first, platform second” approach.
“We’re trying to build a digital-first new media company where we are trying to get the maximum return for our investment across the portfolio,” Strauss said.
Peacock emphasizes advertising, sports and engagement
Strauss said Peacock’s strategy differed from early streaming-industry approaches centered on ad-free subscriptions and scripted content. Peacock launched as an advertising-supported service, and roughly 80% of its subscribers are on an ad-supported tier, he said.
The platform had 48 million subscribers in the second quarter and reached its first profitable quarter, according to Strauss. Rather than pursuing a particular subscriber target, Peacock is focused on building a healthy subscriber base, increasing average revenue per user, and growing revenue and margin faster than its cost base, he said.
Live programming and sports have been central to that effort. Strauss said live events create frequency and urgency for viewers, while sports can support customer acquisition. Entertainment, library programming, news, next-day NBC content and Bravo shows can then support engagement and retention.
He pointed to the audience overlap between Peacock programs as evidence of the model. About 40% of viewers of Love Island, which Strauss called Peacock’s top streaming show of the summer, also watched the World Cup. He said Peacock’s The Five-Star Weekend was its top scripted original.
Peacock recently raised prices, but Strauss said the service remains a strong value given its combination of NBC and Bravo programming, Universal and Focus Features films, original shows, and sports rights including the NFL, NBA, MLB, Premier League, Big Ten and Olympics.
The company is also testing a membership program based on subscriber tenure and engagement. Benefits under the program include discounts on NBC and Bravo merchandise, a pizza offer for viewers who watch three movies in a month, and an Instacart+ subscription offer. Strauss said NBCUniversal could eventually expand membership benefits to areas such as theme parks and BravoCon.
YouTube partnership and international distribution
Strauss characterized streaming as entering a “rebundling” phase, as consumers subscribe to multiple services and streaming prices rise. He said Peacock began leaning more heavily into wholesale bundles about 12 months ago, after initially concentrating on direct-to-consumer growth.
He highlighted a recently announced YouTube relationship as an example of the company’s partnership strategy. The agreement will bundle Peacock Premium, Peacock’s ad-supported tier, with one tier of YouTube Premium. Strauss said the arrangement will add millions of Peacock subscribers and could make Peacock one of the largest domestic streaming services after launch.
The agreement also extends NBCUniversal’s linear broadcast and cable portfolio on YouTube TV, expands advertising collaboration involving data and FreeWheel, and creates opportunities to bundle international services in select markets. Those services include Hayu, which primarily carries Bravo unscripted programming internationally, and Universal+, a service focused on library films and television programming in Latin America and, soon, parts of Asia.
Strauss said Sky’s inclusion in the future independent NBCUniversal would expand the company’s international options. He cited Sky’s customer relationships, local production and sports-news expertise, as well as technology shared between Peacock and Sky’s NOW TV service. He also referenced Sky’s planned ITV acquisition as an opportunity to add digital scale and reach.
NBA, advertising and platform development
One year into NBCUniversal’s NBA partnership, Strauss said performance is ahead of the company’s internal model. Regular-season NBA games averaged about 2.8 million viewers, roughly double comparable games in the prior season, he said. Playoff games averaged more than 7 million viewers, and the Western Conference Finals were the highest-rated in two decades across NBC and Peacock.
Strauss said 60% of NBA advertisers are buying across both NBC and Peacock. The league has also brought younger, more diverse and more mobile-focused viewers to Peacock, with 25% engaging with NBA product features on the platform. About three-quarters of NBA viewers also watch entertainment content, he said.
On advertising, Strauss said the market is more cautious than in the prior year due to macroeconomic conditions, though NBCUniversal is seeing growth in pharmaceutical, financial-services and technology advertising. Sports and streaming accounted for about 60% of NBCUniversal advertising revenue, up from roughly 30% before the COVID-19 pandemic, he said. Programmatic advertising, a business he said did not exist at NBCUniversal five years ago, is now a $1 billion business.
Looking ahead, Strauss said Peacock could evolve beyond a conventional streaming service into a broader entertainment platform. The company has introduced vertical video, gaming experiences tied to shows such as Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy! and Law & Order, and plans to introduce “Bravoverse,” an AI-driven experience designed to create personalized Bravo playlists from the network’s library.
“When you finish an episode, it is not the end, it is the beginning,” Strauss said, describing the company’s goal of keeping viewers engaged with content franchises beyond a single program.
About Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA)
Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) is a global media and technology company that provides broadband, wireless, video, voice and related services to residential and business customers. Through its connectivity businesses, Comcast offers internet access, mobile service, pay television, telephone service, and home security and automation products, primarily under the Xfinity brand in the United States.
Comcast also operates a broad portfolio of entertainment and media businesses. NBCUniversal includes the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks, cable networks, film and television studios, the Peacock streaming service, and a collection of theme parks.
