Media company Comcast Corporation CMCSA reported fourth-quarter financial results before market open Thursday.
One key highlight from the report was the company's growth of its Peacock streaming platform.
What Happened: Comcast is one of several media companies that has National Football League (NFL) media rights and is seeing a boost in viewership during the 2023 NFL season. That boost may have been present in the fourth quarter results.
Comcast reported fourth-quarter revenue of $31.25 billion and earnings per share of 84 cents, both figures which surpassed analyst estimates, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
The company reported it ended the fourth quarter with 31 million Peacock subscribers, with paid subscribers up around 50% year-over-year. The company said it gained three million paid subscribers in the fourth quarter for Peacock.
Comcast said revenue for Peacock was more than $1 billion in the fourth quarter, the first time the company had hit this quarterly milestone for the streaming platform. Revenue for Peacock was up 57% year-over-year.
The company cited the strength of its Big Ten Football and NFL coverage as one of the reasons for the growth in Peacock subscribers.
Comcast airs the weekly "Sunday Night Football" game on NBC and also streams the game on Peacock.
In 2023, NFL games ranked among the most-watched TV primetime events with 45 games among the top 100 most-watched U.S. primetime broadcasts, as shared by Variety.
Comcast had six of the top 10 most-watched primetime broadcasts in 2023 thanks to the NFL:
5. NFL Playoffs (Cincinnati Bengals vs. Baltimore Ravens): 27.08 million
6. Thursday Night Football (NFL Opening Night, Detroit Lions vs. Kansas City Chiefs): 25.04 million
7. Sunday Night Football (Chiefs vs. New York Jets): 25.02 million
8. Thursday Night Football Special (San Francisco 49ers vs. Seattle Seahawks): 25.01 million
9. Sunday Night Football (49ers vs. Dallas Cowboys): 25.00 million
10. Sunday Night Football (Green Bay Packers vs. Chiefs): 23.81 million
Comcast had 14 of the top 20 primetime broadcasts of 2023 with its NFL games.
One of the items that could have helped Comcast and Peacock is Taylor Swift and her attendance at several Chiefs games to support her boyfriend Travis Kelce, the Chiefs’ tight end.
NBC and Peacock aired the Oct. 1 Sunday Night Football game against the Jets and the Dec. 3 Sunday Night Football game against the Packers for the Chiefs. Both games were attended by Swift and likely saw a boost in viewership thanks to her presence and extra fans tuning in. Both games ranked in the top 10 for primetime broadcasts in 2023 as seen above.
The strong results of the fourth quarter shouldn't come as a huge surprise.
"Comcast reports fourth-quarter financial results on Jan. 25, which could provide a better look at expectations for Peacock and the upcoming Olympics and how the NFL rights are benefiting the media company," Benzinga recently wrote.
Related Link: Taylor Swift Boosts Travis Kelce’s Popularity: Stocks That Could Benefit From The Love Story
What's Next: The good news for Comcast and shareholders is Peacock could continue to gain in the first quarter, which is already well underway.
Comcast had the rights to three NFL games during the opening round of the NFL Playoffs and one game during the second weekend of the playoffs.
One of those first games from Comcast was an exclusive to Peacock, the first-ever NFL Playoffs game to be exclusive to streaming.
Comcast reported the matchup between the Miami Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs on Peacock was the biggest livestreamed event in U.S. history with an average of 23 million viewers. The game ranked ahead of last year's Saturday primetime AFC Wild Card game by 6% according to the company. The game hit a peak of 24.6 million viewers during the second quarter and reached a total of 27.6 million viewers.
Comcast said the game set records for internet usage on Saturday night as well, representing 30% of internet traffic during the game.
The earlier Saturday game between the Cleveland Browns and Houston Texans averaged 29.0 million viewers on NBC, Peacock, NBC Sports Digital, NFL Digital and Telemundo, marking the most-watched Saturday NFL Wild Card game on NBC since 2014.
Comcast's last NFL Playoffs game of the 2023 NFL season came in with strong viewership. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Detroit Lions game had an average of 40.4 million viewers and peaked at 49.1 million viewers. This marked the most-watched NFL Divisional Playoff game for NBC Sports since 1994. The game also had 3.3 million digital viewers including on Peacock, marking the third straight NFL Playoff game with over three million streaming viewers for NBC Sports.
The strong viewership of the four NFL Playoff games in the first quarter, including the Peacock exclusive game could see a bump in subscribers when Comcast reports its next quarterly results.
Another item that could boost Peacock subscribers in the first quarter will be the premiere of "Oppenheimer" on the streaming platform on Feb. 16. The movie, which was one of the top-grossing movies in 2023, was recently nominated for 13 Academy Awards.
Going forward, Comcast also has the 2024 Summer Olympics, which could provide another boost to Peacock subscription figures.
CMCSA Price Action: Comcast shares are up 3.68% to $45.41 on Thursday at publication versus a 52-week trading range of $34.63 to $47.46.
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© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
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