NBCUniversal has released its quarterly earnings report and it looks like the Peacock streaming service is doing pretty well for the company.
Peacock has hit 42 million signups with about a third of that figure being monthly active accounts. It was highlighted that this was “about a third” of where Hulu is after 13 years of being online and after just about a year for Peacock. During their last financial update in January, the company reported 33 million signups for the service. NBCUniversal is crediting the recent addition of exclusive domestic streaming rights to WWE Network and The Office for their recent bump.
Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts said Peacock users are consuming “nearly 20 percent more programming hours each month than our traditional audience on NBC.” The streamer has just crossed 1 billion total hours watched, “nearly double our plan,” he said. That has allowed the company to offer new advertising inventory with rates “at a material premium” to linear primetime. Network TV has seen the importance of streaming in recent years but NBC has really doubled down on its efforts to make it work. Shows like A.P. Bio, which was removed after two seasons on the actual network, got a new home on Peacock because the series’ online footprint was seen as strong when it was airing on the network. This could save a lot of shows that are on the bubble because they may function better on the streaming service.
