This year is full of sweeping changes for Comcast, which is bucking the media M&A trend.
Earlier this year, Comcast spun off many of its cable assets into a new company called Versant Media and, three weeks ago, it shared plans to separate NBCUniversal and Sky into another publicly traded company. NBCU’s portfolio includes Telemundo, Bravo, the Peacock streaming service and other NBC channels. Comcast, meanwhile, will remain focused on its core broadband and connectivity business.
Comcast dedicated its Q2 earnings call on Thursday to convincing investors why these spinoffs are a good idea. The shift in strategy positions Comcast to “compete more effectively in an environment increasingly defined by convergence,” said CFO Jason Armstrong.
In other words, viewers consume content across a wide variety of channels and mediums, and the media companies best positioned to profit are those that can reach viewers wherever they watch.
In the long term, Comcast will focus on the wireless business and Peacock, although the intended NBCUniversal spinoff is a near-term priority. Both streaming and wireless businesses rely on sustainable subscriber growth and ad revenue to survive.
Peacock takes flight
So how are those two businesses performing?
Peacock hit what Comcast Co-CEO Mike Cavanagh called “meaningful profitability” for the first time in Q2 – just as Comcast decided to let it leave the nest.
Cavanagh credited Peacock’s content slate in helping attract 2 million additional paid subscribers last quarter (including yours truly), bringing the grand total to 48 million. The 2026 FIFA World Cup, NBA Playoffs and Season 8 of “Love Island USA” led the charge.
June marked Peacock’s highest-ever monthly viewership total, according to Co-CEO Brian Roberts, validating what he calls the company’s “renewed conviction” in Comcast’s ability to compete in an increasingly crowded market.
“Love Island” was the No. 1 streaming title in the US this summer while the World Cup broke records for broadcast and streaming viewership, with the top 10 most-watched matches in Spanish-language TV history. These viewership trends illustrate a simple truth: Popular titles drive growth in viewing hours and engagement, which, in turn, draws advertisers.
Peacock was a primary driver of Comcast’s overall media revenue, which was up 25.3% year over year, or 15.6% excluding the World Cup. Media advertising revenue minus the World Cup was up 23.5%.
Looking at Peacock alone, overall revenue grew 54% YOY, while advertising revenue increased nearly 70%.
Roberts argued that the new independent media company’s combined reach of Peacock, NBC, Telemundo, Sky, possibly ITV and others “will be well positioned to drive engagement and growth.”
Sky recently shared plans to buy the media and entertainment division of European broadcaster ITV.
Don’t forget to call
As for its broadband business, Comcast is focusing its energy on making a “more aggressive push into wireless,” Cavanagh said. The wireless biz, which encompasses Internet, Wi-Fi and mobile plans, is becoming a “more meaningful growth engine” for the company, he said.
Like other TV and broadband services, Comcast’s Xfinity wireless plans are available as bundles, many of which include streaming TV access.
The broadband and wireless space is also highly competitive, Cavanagh added, and Comcast doesn’t expect that to change anytime soon. Which is why Comcast has been offering prospective customers free mobile lines in the hopes that these consumers will eventually pay to upgrade their plans.
Comcast’s average revenue per user for broadband declined 3.8% last quarter, Armstrong said, but he largely attributed the drop to “strong adoption” of Comcast’s free wireless plan.
The company expects a “significant majority” of free plans to become paid ones throughout this year, he added.
Most importantly, though, Armstrong said, wireless is a “product that provides real value across a range of customer segments,” which helps boost overall engagement and ad revenue growth.
For these reasons, Armstrong declared that “broadband remains the anchor product” for Comcast.
And in the meantime, NBCUniversal will be focused on keeping Peacock’s momentum going.
