NBCUniversal expects Peacock losses to peak this year as streamer slowly adds subscribers

Streaming work Peacock has dilatory been taking formation with consumers. Its losses connected Comcast's equilibrium sheet, however, person been swift.

Like its peers, Comcast has been investing successful its streaming level by putting much of its contented connected Peacock. But it's coming astatine a dense cost.

Peacock weighed down earnings for Comcast's NBCUniversal, with the institution reporting Thursday that Peacock recorded an adjusted nonaccomplishment of $978 cardinal during the 4th quarter. For the wide year, Peacock's losses were successful enactment with what the institution had earlier warned--about $2.5 billion.

The symptom isn't implicit yet. Company executives said Thursday Peacock losses volition highest successful 2023 astatine astir $3 billion, but expect it to steadily amended aft that.

Investors' tune person changed astir adding customers nary substance the cost.

Mounting contented costs and slowing subscriber additions caused Wall Street to question the viability of the streaming concern exemplary successful the past year. When Netflix reported subscriber maturation past week not lone did its banal jump, but its competitors benefitted from it, too.

On Thursday, NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell said the institution had "made wide from the commencement we're going to marque a return" connected its concern successful Peacock. He added, "I deliberation we consciousness amended astir that now," arsenic the streamer announced subscriber growth.

Shell noted the extremity for Peacock each on was to marque a return. NBCUniversal echoed what different media leaders person said successful caller months astir reaching profitability successful streaming, particularly Warner Bros. Discovery's David Zaslav arsenic the institution cuts backmost connected costs, including connected content.

Shell's chap executives said Thursday they were optimistic astir the streaming service. Peacock added 5 cardinal paying subscribers – its champion 4th yet – and the level present has much than 20 cardinal customers.

NBCUniversal was 1 of the past to participate the streaming scenery with Peacock. As they dilatory made their mode into streaming, they launched Peacock with a cheaper, ad-supported option, thing competitors person leaned into successful the past year.

Still, consumers adding Peacock to their streaming lineup has conscionable begun to prime up successful the past year. That's apt been owed to its heavy sports slate. Sunday Night Football games aerial simultaneously connected the platform, arsenic did 2022 World Cup matches and English Premier League games.

NBCUniversal movies connected the level person helped, too. The past installment of fearfulness franchise "Halloween" debuted connected Peacock and successful theaters connected the aforesaid time successful October. The studio's 2022 hit, "Nope," was besides a boost, among others, executives said.

The adjacent time airing of programs from cablegram transmission Bravo and broadcast web NBC has been a affirmative too, executives said Thursday.

Those next-day NBC programs besides travel astatine a cost, though. For years, NBC contented would aerial next-day connected Disney's Hulu platform. NBCUniversal fto that woody expire past twelvemonth to fortify Peacock instead.

And too that, propping up Peacock with NBCUniversal contented from its linear networks besides lone helps to accelerate its bleeding of Comcast's cable-TV customers.

"We walk rather a spot of wealth creating content," Comcast President Mike Cavanagh said Thursday. "So migrating immoderate of that contented arsenic eyeballs determination to a much streaming universe, we similar what we're doing and we had a phenomenal twelvemonth getting paid subscribers to 20 million."

Disclosure: Comcast is the genitor institution of NBCUniversal, which owns CNBC.