NBCUniversal's Peacock streaming service is growing, thanks to live sports

NBCUniversal's sports portfolio has been driving maturation astatine its streaming work Peacock — and the institution has nary plans to fto up, with different sports rights deals apical of mind.

Sports are a double-edged sword for media companies that are contending with relentless cord-cutting and trying to marque their streaming services profitable.

Live sports contented has agelong been the glue holding unneurotic the accepted cablegram TV bundle, which is losing customers astatine a faster clip portion costing media organizations more. At the aforesaid time, sports is serving arsenic a propeller of maturation for streaming, particularly for fledgling services similar Peacock and Paramount Global's Paramount+.

NBCUniversal's genitor company, Comcast, connected Thursday touted that Peacock astir doubled its lawsuit number twelvemonth implicit twelvemonth to 24 million. Sports were a large portion of the conversation.

"Sports continues to beryllium a immense driver, with the NFL, Nascar, golf, Premier League, the World Cup connected Telemundo — including the Women's World Cup going connected close present — Big Ten starting this fall, and the Paris Olympics coming up adjacent year," President Mike Cavanagh said connected an capitalist telephone aft Comcast's second-quarter net report.

NBCUniversal airs astir of its sports properties, including Sunday Night Football and Premier League soccer, simultaneously connected its TV networks and Peacock — a akin exemplary to Paramount's NFL playbook.

According to Cavanagh, simultaneous streaming has fixed the institution and its sports assets "tremendous reach." And each that astatine a little outgo to the consumer.

Peacock is priced astatine $4.99 a period for its ad-supported tier — though it's reportedly expanding by $1 a period — a large terms quality from the outgo of emblematic cablegram TV bundles.

NBCUniversal is considering bringing the NBA backmost to its portfolio, too.

While Cavanagh said NBC didn't "necessarily request it fixed the portfolio we have," the institution would inactive instrumentality a look astatine the upcoming media rights.

The NBA won't statesman ceremonial negotiations with companies extracurricular of the existent rights holders, Warner Bros. Discovery and Disney, earlier April 2024, unless those partners waive their exclusive dialog rights.

CNBC earlier this twelvemonth reported NBC Sports was considering a bid for NBA rights.

Meanwhile, Disney executives person said it's a substance of "when, not if" ESPN's unrecorded channels volition beryllium offered a la carte done streaming services.

Earlier this month, Disney CEO Bob Iger opened the doorway to selling its cablegram TV channels, but said ESPN was inactive portion of the Disney playbook going forward. Instead, Disney is having discussions with imaginable partners oregon number investors for ESPN.

Professional leagues, including the NBA, NFL and MLB, person been portion of those discussions, CNBC antecedently reported.

ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro astatine CNBC x Boardroom's inaugural lawsuit earlier this week debunked immoderate conception that ESPN channels connected streaming would upend the accepted TV model.

"The [traditional TV] exemplary has been precise bully to Disney," Pitaro said, noting ESPN would inactive unrecorded connected accepted TV and that the web was moving with wage TV distributors.

An ESPN woody would beryllium little apt for NBC Sports, Cavanagh said Thursday.

Any benignant of swap oregon necktie up of the businesses, arsenic Cavanagh said has been speculated astir NBC Sports and ESPN, would beryllium "very improbable," fixed "tremendous issues astir taxation number shareholder structuring."

Disclosure: NBCUniversal is CNBC's genitor company.