Comcast on Thursday reported improved Q3 earnings losses for NBCUniversal’s Peacock streamer, where the company is betting sports, including the NBA, will help it score on multiple fronts for the larger media business.
Still, with the pro basketball season just getting underway this month, that focus on sports didn’t appear to translate to Peacock subscriber growth for the period ending September 30. For the second quarter in a row Comcast didn’t report any growth in its Peacock subscriber base, which has held at 41 million since the end of Q1.
However, on the earnings call Comcast President Mike Cavanagh (who’s transitioning into the co-CEO role effective 2026) focused on retention for the SVOD – saying it “has held steady” even after Peacock implemented a $3 monthly price bump and that momentum at the streamer “remains solid.”
Comcast execs did note there was additional Peacock churn from the in-quarter price hike, but that was offset thanks to a strong content slate late in the period alongside strategic distribution initiatives.
As for Q3 results, Media segment EBITDA increased 28% to $832 million, driven by Peacock. Comcast said a tough comp to the prior year that had the Olympics was reflected in results, including Media segment Q3 revenue, which totaled about $6.6 billion in the period, down 19.9% yoy. Excluding the Olympics, Q3 Media revenue would’ve been up 4.2% yoy.
Comcast reported $1.36 billion in Peacock quarterly revenue alongside $1.58 billion in Q3 costs for the streamer. Peacock EBITDA losses narrowed by $219 million year-over-year to $217 million in Q3.
“Running linear and streaming as one integrated media business gives us real scale and flexibility,” Cavanagh added in opening remarks. “It allows us to align programming, marketing promotion and monetization across NBC, Peacock and our studios. And as we near completion of the Versant spin, NBCUniversal's media business will be more focused and well positioned to grow.”
As mentioned NBCU is laser-focused on sports – which Cavanagh cited as a cornerstone of the media business, including with NBA rights it scooped up and is looking to make the most of. Comcast execs previously cited viewing the NBA as a “launch pad” for Peacock.
The professional basketball league tipped-off last week on NBC and Peacock, which the exec said, “marked the start of one of the biggest stretches of live sports in our history and drew the largest audience for an NBA opening doubleheader since 2010.”
NBCU also has NFL and college football rights and is already gearing up for next February when it’ll have the Super Bowl, Winter Olympics and NBA All-Star Weekend. February will also mark the launch of “Sunday Night Basketball,” Cavanagh noted, saying that effort is modeled after the success of Sunday Night Football.
As NBCU has padded out its sports portfolio it has also teed up new sports-focused user experience features and ways for brands to get in on the action as it looks to engage new and existing fans on Peacock (for more on that see here).
As for contributing to NBCU’s overall aims, Cavanagh said “each [sports] property adds value across our entire media ecosystem, driving NBC’s distribution, helping Peacock attract and retain subscribers and power our advertising business.”
Sports, including the return of Sunday Night Football, boosted Media segment quarterly ad revenue by 2.6% (compared to 2024 Q3 excluding the Olympics) to $1.96 billion.
With a continued migration from traditional pay TV to streaming “the multiple benefits of sports becomes an even greater advantage,” Cavanagh added.
Still, while Comcast expects advertising and distribution revenue boosts from NBA on NBC and Peacock, executives noted the sports rights also introduce new expense, but overtime expects that impact to be offset by advertising growth.
“Our recent record upfront tied to sports, including the NBA, is a good indicator and through subscriber acquisition and monetization across both linear and Peacock, we also expect to optimize NBCUniversal programming investment across sports, entertainment and news,” said Comcast CFO Jason Armstrong.
In addition to sports, “pay-1 movies and originals are a piece of the pie of driving scale in Peacock,” Cavanagh said, noting partners it’s added like Steven Spielberg and Jourdan Peele, among others.
M&A speculation
Asked on the call by equity analysts about M&A rumors (with Warner Bros. Discovery exploring potential sale opportunities), Cavanagh again cited a very high bar for the company to pursue any M&A, but said to expect the company to look at things that are trading in the industry, adding that Comcast’s job is to “figure out if there’s way to add value.”
But for now, he suggested the company feels good with what it’s got.
Regarding the NBCU business that will remain after the Versant split – which largely consists of NBC broadcast and Peacock – Cavanagh noted the NBA and names like Taylor Sheridan, saying “you put that business alongside one of the finest studio businesses in the industry and our Parks business, and I think the strategies we have are really sound and durable without M&A.”
Still as for potential other media assets, it would be looking for those complementary to its media business – where the company is spinning out most of its legacy cable networks so wouldn’t be in the market to add back in different flavors of the same thing, but rather those that align with its refocused business. So “in this case, it would be streaming assets and studio assets, since there’s no other parks assets out there” Cavanagh said.
Pay TV keeps shrinking but Q3 proved better for Comcast
On the pay TV side of the business, Comcast notably lowered its video subscriber losses. It still lost 257,000 net video customers in the period, but executives said that represents the company’s best video subscriber result in nearly five years. Comcast’s residential pay TV base now stands at 11.5 million.
Video still contributed $6.6 billion in Q3 revenue, but down 5% compared to Q3 video revenue in 2024.
“Churn is at record lows, supported by our focus on delivering the right products for each customer segment,” Cavanagh said in opening remarks after commenting on the improved video losses. “Our EntertainmentOS continues to lead the market, enhanced by features like Multiview, which allows our customers to view several live events simultaneously.”
Comcast’s Entertainment OS is powering devices including smart TVs and the Xumo Stream Box as part of the company’s Xumo joint venture with cable peer Charter.
In terms of the company’s different connectivity products, Cavanagh also commented that the EntertainmentOS alongside broadband and wireless products “operate as one system, integrated and designed for how customers actually connect.”
He went on to say that “taken together or individually, they deliver a seamless experience that differentiates in the marketplace.”
Comcast lost 91,000 residential broadband customers in Q3 but added a record 414,000 wireless lines.
Total Comcast consolidated Q3 revenue of $31 billion was down 2.7% year-over-year, which the company said reflected a tough comparison to the prior year which had included incremental revenue from the Paris Olympics.
The same day Comcast reported Q3 results it announced current Chief Operating Officer of Connectivity & Platforms Steve Croney will succeed Dave Watson on January 1 as the new CEO of the division. In that role Croney will be responsible for Comcast’s residential and commercial connectivity businesses including broadband, wireless and entertainment distribution.