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Peacock has lagged behind streaming competitors. On Thursday, the streaming service reported a 9% increase in subscribers to 24 million from 22 million in its second quarter.
Peacock trails Netflix, which added 5.9 million subscribers in the same quarter. Disney+ lost four million subscribers in Q2 2023, but its total remains astronomically high at 157.8 million. Peacock nearly doubled its subscriber base from 13 million a year earlier, which is good growth for a three-year-old streamer. The company attributed the recent increase in new users to free users becoming paying subscribers.
Peacock stopped offering its free tier to new customers in January. Peacock Premium, an ad-supported plan, stopped being free for Xfinity customers last month.
Peacock revenue increased 85% year-over-year to $820 million. The company also lost streaming. Peacock lost $651 million in Q2, compared to $704 million in Q1 and $467 million in Q2 2022.
Given this, Comcast’s streaming business will be unprofitable for a long time. We’re curious how its slow and steady approach will fare over time.
Peacock informed existing customers last week of an August 17 price increase, the first since its 2020 launch. Peacock’s Premium plan will rise from $4.99 to $5.99, while the ad-free Premium Plus tier will rise $2 to $11.99.
The company believes its content lineup warrants the price increase. Peacock offers over 5,000 hours of live sports, including Big Ten games, the Women’s World Cup, Sunday Night Football, Premier League, and an exclusive NFL playoff game next year.
The earnings call revealed that Comcast President Michael J. Cavanagh would consider NBA rights.
“Obviously the NBA’s coming up, that’s a fantastic property,” Cavanagh said. “Given our portfolio, we don’t necessarily need it, but given its strength and our historical involvement in the sport, I’d like to see us take a look at it.”
“Poker Face,” “Mrs. Davis,” “The Continental,” “Bel-Air,” and “Bupkis” are among Peacock’s original titles. Starting August 3, it will stream “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” a huge hit.
