Peacock Lost $436 Million in the Paris Olympics Quarter

The NBCUniversal streaming service added 3 million subs this summer.

Peacock added 3 million subscribers this summer (July 1 to September 30), when it was the streaming home to the Paris Olympics. Simultaneously, the service lost $436 million in the quarter. Peacock now has 36 million subs.

The NBCUniversal-owned streaming service had lost 1 million subs in the spring quarter; NBCU is owned by Comcast, which reported third quarter earnings on Thursday morning. Overall, the company topped media analysts’ expectations.

Wall Street forecast Comcast would report earnings per share of $1.06 on revenue of $31.64 billion; Comcast reported EPS of $1.12 on $32.07 billion in revenue.

As we previously reported, Antenna, a research company that charts the subscription economy, observed 2.8 million Peacock signups over the first week (July 25-31) of the 2024 Paris Olympics. The key thing here for Peacock is that the newcomers stuck around. The new subscribers were also driven by an NFL game in Brazil that was exclusive to Peacock.

Peacock had lost $348 million in the second quarter and $639 million in the first quarter of 2024. Comcast’s main business segment is still its broadband cable.

Universal Pictures released “Despicable Me 4” and “Twisters” in the quarter. “The Wild Robot” came out just a few days before the quarter ended on September 30, 2024. “Despicable Me 4” made nearly $1 billion at the box office worldwide; even with inflation, “Twisters” ($371 million) couldn’t live up to “Twister” ($495 million in 1996). Warner Bros. released “Twisters” overseas.

But this summer was about streaming, as Peacock finally got a proper Summer Olympics. The streamer was originally launched for the 2020 Olympics, but COVID ruined that (like so many other things). Well, good things came to those who waited: Peacock viewership grew by 33 percent in July and 39 percent in August. The games also dominated broadcast television (NBC) and cable (USA Network).

Peacock generated $300 million in revenue in the summer quarter thanks to the Olympics, and it averaged 30 million viewers across all NBCUni’s platforms.

“We delivered an incredibly successful Paris Summer Olympics that helped fuel double-digit percentage growth in Peacock revenue and paid subscribers and contributed to NBC’s #1 ranking for the 2023-2024 season,” Brian L. Roberts, the Comcast chairman, said (in part) in a statement accompanying the financial results. “We also released the universally acclaimed ‘Despicable Me 4,’ which grossed nearly $1.0 billion in worldwide box office, and announced the grand opening of Universal Epic Universe in May 2025, which will be the most ambitious and technologically sophisticated theme park ever created. Overall, it was a very active and successful quarter, and I couldn’t be more pleased with how our team is executing and positioning our company for long-term growth.”