As its parent Comcast reported a very strong second quarter of the year, the Peacock direct-to-consumer service has racked up more than ten million subs during the three-month period and will make its non-US debut across Sky platforms throughout Europe later this year.
For the three months to 30 June 2021, Comcast posted revenues of $28.5 billion, increasing 20.4% on an annual basis, with net income rising 25.1% year-on-year to $3.7 billion. For the six months ended 30 June 2021, revenue increased annually by 10.8% to $55.8 billion and net income increased 37.6% compared with to $7.1 billion.
Among the highlights of the quarter were the Cable Communications division recording 294,000 total customer relationship net additions, the company’s best second quarter result on record. Total broadband customer net additions were 354,000, also the best second quarter result on record.
The second quarter results showed revenues at Comcast’s Sky pay-TV business increased 28.0% to £3.72 billion, an increase of 14.9% on a constant currency basis. Showing the rebound from the Covid hit 2020, the company’s content revenues were up 36% year-on-year to £254 million, and advertising soared 78.8% to £460 million. However, the key metric for the company was the core direct-to-consumer business which for the quarter was up 7.7% to £3.02 billion.
And giving Sky’s direct-to-business a huge boost will be the arrival of Peacock which will be made available to nearly 20 million Sky customers in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Italy, Austria, and Switzerland at no additional cost, across Sky platforms, including Sky Q, NOW and Sky Ticket. The agreement with Sky marks Peacock’s first international expansion since its US launch last summer. Over the past year, 54 million customers have signed-up for Peacock in the US and the Comcast results showed that the service had added 12 million customers since the end of Q1 2021.
Peacock will offer a range of exclusive originals, on-demand libraries of hit TV shows, plus films from Universal Pictures, Focus Features, DreamWorks Animation, Illuminatio and Hollywood’s biggest studios. In addition, Peacock taps NBCUniversal’s content across news, sports, late-night, Spanish-language and reality.
Among the highlights of the quarter were the Cable Communications division recording 294,000 total customer relationship net additions, the company’s best second quarter result on record. Total broadband customer net additions were 354,000, also the best second quarter result on record.
The second quarter results showed revenues at Comcast’s Sky pay-TV business increased 28.0% to £3.72 billion, an increase of 14.9% on a constant currency basis. Showing the rebound from the Covid hit 2020, the company’s content revenues were up 36% year-on-year to £254 million, and advertising soared 78.8% to £460 million. However, the key metric for the company was the core direct-to-consumer business which for the quarter was up 7.7% to £3.02 billion.
And giving Sky’s direct-to-business a huge boost will be the arrival of Peacock which will be made available to nearly 20 million Sky customers in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Italy, Austria, and Switzerland at no additional cost, across Sky platforms, including Sky Q, NOW and Sky Ticket. The agreement with Sky marks Peacock’s first international expansion since its US launch last summer. Over the past year, 54 million customers have signed-up for Peacock in the US and the Comcast results showed that the service had added 12 million customers since the end of Q1 2021.
Peacock will offer a range of exclusive originals, on-demand libraries of hit TV shows, plus films from Universal Pictures, Focus Features, DreamWorks Animation, Illuminatio and Hollywood’s biggest studios. In addition, Peacock taps NBCUniversal’s content across news, sports, late-night, Spanish-language and reality.
