Comcast talks up US-focused ‘Peacock and linear as one’, bats away merger speculation

Source: Comcast

Comcast aims to “manage Peacock and our linear TV businesses as one” rather than to focus on “what standalone Peacock losses are doing” as it attempts to scale up its streaming operation in the US on the back of last year’s growth, according to president Mike Cavanagh.

Speaking on an analyst call after Comcast announced its Q4 numbers, Cavanagh said that the company’s “couldn’t be prouder of what we accomplished with Peacock in 2023” after the streamer grew its base by 50% last year with three million adds in Q4.

Cavanagh used the analyst call to boast that Peacock had achieved a paying subs base that was already three fifths the size of close rivals (excluding Netflix) despite being a late starter, as well as achieving ARPU of US$10.

The next phase, he said was to improve profitability from last year’s peak losses, which will likely involve some “levelling off” of content spend.

However, he said, “the strategy is to manage Peacock and our linear TV businesses as one” by looking at the content properties of Peacock, NBC, Bravo, Uinversal and other in the round to deliver scale.

“I’m less focused on what standalone Peacock losses are doing than I am on doing what’s right for the long term, for the totality of the media business, which is linear and streaming,” he said.

Examples include Oppenheimer coming to the platform on February 16 and plans to expand Olympics coverage across both Peacock and NBC.

Cavanagh also indicated that Comcast would look to focus on the domestic US market for Peacock, while tapping streaming JVs such as SkyShowtime and Showmax, and licensing, to build revenue in other markets.

“We’re looking for ways and a rational approach economically to scale up Peacock domestically,” he said. “We want to win here first and get to where we need to go, and that’s really where we are most focused.”

Merger speculation

CEO Brian Roberts, also on the call, meanwhile used his opening remarks to bat away speculation that the company could be preparing for a major consolidation play. This follows speculation that Comcast could be in the running to merge with Warner Bros. Discovery, following earlier speculation that it could be a candidate to buy Paramount.

Speculation about a Comcast-Warner Bros. Discovery combination was fuelled by reports of talks between the latter and Paramount, with some analysts regarding a Comcast deal as making more sense.

“While there may be speculation on what we could do next, I’d like you to hear it directly from me: I love the company we have, so the bar continues to be even higher for us to do anything other than the plan you heard today,” said Roberts on the earnings call, implicitly pouring cold water on the merger rumour mill.