NBCUniversal Is Becoming “Fairly Indifferent” As To Whether Programming Goes On Streaming Or Linear TV, CEO Jeff Shell Says; Theme Park Success “Defies Logic A Little Bit”

deadline.com:

At 15 million paid subscribers, Peacock isn’t on the same level as other streaming services, but NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell says that’s no accident. “Our long-term aspiration for Peacock is to balance out our overall media business,” Shell said during NBCU parent Comcast’s third-quarter earnings call today. “We’ve said all along that our strategy in streaming is different than some of the premium SVOD players like Netflix and Disney+.

We view it as a part of our business. We manage it as one. We make decisions on programming as one, we sell advertising across the business as one.

As viewership shifts from linear to Peacock, we want Peacock to get to a level and a scale that causes our business to be balanced as consumer sentiments and advertiser sentiments change.” At about 30 million monthly active users across free and premium tiers, Shell added, “We’re right on track with what we wanted to do when we built that business.” Investors appeared to agree, sending Comcast shares up 6% in mid-day trading.

The quarter overall had pluses and minuses, including an $8.6 million writedown at Sky due to volatility in the UK and Europe and tough comparisons with the Tokyo Olympics quarter a year ago, but the movie and parks businesses were major bright spots for NBCU.