Comcast, led by chairman and CEO Brian Roberts, reported first-quarter results for its entertainment unit and other operations.
Peacock, the NBCUniversal streamer under parent Comcast, narrowed its loss to $215 million, from $639 million in the year-ago period, and overall revenue rose 16 percent to $1.2 billion. Peacock ended March 2024 with 41 million paying subscribers, compared with 36 million for the year-end 2024 quarter and the previous third quarter of 2024.
The media conglomerate reported first quarter overall revenues at $29.8 billion, compared to a year-earlier $30.05 billion. Adjusted EBITDA for the media division rose to $9.5 billion. Comcast beat on a consensus estimate for revenues at $29.68 billion for the first quarter. Net income attributable to Comcast came to $3.37 billion, down 12.5 percent from a year-earlier $3.85 billion, and the adjusted earnings per-share rose 4.5 percent to $1.09.
Against that earnings performance, Comcast president Mike Cavanagh during a morning analyst conference call warned recessionary winds threaten on the horizon. “While we don’t see any noteworthy evidence of economic challenges for the year thus far, the odds have increased that challenges may be approaching, but we are well positioned to handle whatever lies ahead,” he said.
Revenue for content and experiences, or the conglomerate’s media and entertainment businesses, edged up just under 1 percent to $10.45 billion. NBCUniversal’s studios’ unit revenue rose 3 percent to $2.82 billion, as higher content licensing revenue offset lower theatrical revenue. And the unit’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) jumped in the first quarter to $298 million, compared to a year-earlier $244 million. The studios division saw strong box office carry over during the latest quarter from Wicked and Nosferatu.
NBCUniversal’s theme parks revenue fell 5 percent to $1.87 billion as the recent Los Angeles wildfires led to lower attendance. The division, which Cavanagh said was on “an incredible growth trajectory,” will see Universal Epic Universe attraction open in Florida in May.
Quarterly revenue for the media unit, which includes NBCUniversal, rose 1.1 percent to $$6.44 billion, while the EBITIDA jumped 21.5 percent to $1 billion. For the connectivity & platforms division, overall revenue rose .7 percent to $20.1 billion. But the total customer base fell by 228,000 to 51.4 million.
In the broadband division, the cable giant lost 199,000 domestic subscribers, a bigger decline than the 144,173 subscriber loss projected, and a steeper decline than the loss of 65,000 customers in the first quarter of 2024. Comcast signed up 323,000 new domestic wireless lines, up from the 289,000 subscribers added last year.
The conglomerate also continued to lose video subscribers, with customer losses of 427,000 during the latest quarter, which compares to 487,000 lost during the first quarter of 2024, as the cable bundle continues to come under pressure.
Amid the struggles of traditional cable TV around cord-cutting and the ascent of streaming, Comcast has unveiled plans to spinoff most of its cable networks, including USA Networks, CNBC and MSNBC, into a separate entity. Cable channel Bravo, the NBC broadcast network and Peacock will remain part of NBCUniversal.
Comcast’s Cavanagh told analysts initiatives to restore fortunes for the broadband and other connectivity businesses were increasing. “In this intensely competitive environment, we are not winning in the marketplace that is commensurate with the strength of the network and connectivity products that I just described,” he insisted, while adding it would take “several quarters” for recovery efforts to gain traction.
