Management has so far this year also lauded the “strong” usage for Peacock, saying it has come in at around double the internal projections. For example, Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts said a few months ago that Peacock users were consuming “nearly 20 percent more programming hours each month than our traditional audience on NBC.” The streamer at the time had just crossed 1 billion total hours watched, “nearly double our plan,” he said.
NBCU’s second-quarter EBITDA reached $1.55 billion, with the return of sports boosting advertising, but also driving up costs. Media unit revenue jumped 25.7 percent to $5.1 billion in the second quarter thanks to higher advertising, distribution revenue and other revenue. Advertising revenue rebounded 32.8 percent, “reflecting an increase in the number of sporting events and higher pricing in the current period, and reduced spending from advertisers in the prior-year period as a result of COVID-19,” the company said. These gains were “partially offset” by ratings declines. Distribution revenue rose 19.0 percent.
Theme parks unit revenue for the second quarter increased by $958 million to $1.1 billion after “our theme parks were closed for either the majority or entirety of the period as a result of COVID-19” in the same quarter of 2020. Theme parks adjusted EBITDA swung from a $393 million loss to a $221 million profit, which included pre-opening costs related to the Universal Beijing Resort.