Comcast/NBCUniversal is reportedly close to a deal that would make some current NBC shows exclusive to Peacock, its ad-supported streaming service.
The Wall Street Journal previously reported on an option for Comcast to take back shows including “Saturday Night Live” and “The Voice,” which for now show up for streaming access on Hulu shortly after they air. Now it appears Comcast is close to making the deal official, which would mean those shows and other current NBC titles would no longer show up on Hulu beginning in the fall.
Comcast reportedly has until Friday, Feb. 11 to decide. If the company passes on the option, then those shows will stay on Hulu until 2024. Either way, a deal would not impact certain shows like “30 Rock” and “Parenthood” and some films in the Hulu library.
RELATED: Comcast may pull its content from Hulu and send it to Peacock
During an investor conference last year, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said that 10 years ago, when his company bought NBCUniversal, it inherited a company that had committed really all of its content to Hulu.
“And all that content still resides on Hulu. So, the biggest and best -- most relevant part of our content, at least from television, historical NBC and our cable nets and particularly NBC, are all licensed away, and that can change over time,” he said.
Comcast still owns 33% of Hulu—though Disney holds full operational control over the streamer—and Roberts described it as a “wonderful company” and a growing asset that many NBCU investors are still riding. So, Comcast still has a vested interest in Hulu, at least until 2024 when it can require Disney to buy its 33% stake in Hulu, which is valued at $8.5 billion.
The predominant logic in pulling back NBC shows from Hulu and making them exclusive to Peacock is almost certainly tied to increasing subscriber growth for Peacock, which has only 9 million paid subscribers despite launching nearly a year and a half ago.
Comcast has pledged to double the content budget for Peacock this year to $3 billion, some of which will be reallocated from linear business. CFO Mike Cavanagh said that sum should rise to $5 billion annually over the next few years as NBCUniversal brings its content including pay one movie rights that currently belong to HBO.