Peacock hit 18 million subscribers, according to NBC Universal CEO
Jeff Shell told an investors conference that the ad-supported streaming platform was helping the media giant offset continuing declines in linear TV revenue and an advertising market “getting worse.”
NBC Universal CEO Jeff Shell says Peacock has hit 18 million subscribers.
“That’s real subscribers, paying us real American dollars,” he told the UBS TMT Conference during a session that was webcast on Monday. A bullish Shell also pointed to Netflix and other rival streaming platforms getting into the advertising business as validation that NBCU placed a winning bet on an ad-supported streaming model.
“We were late coming into streaming, but we clearly chose the right business model,” he told investors. Asked about the path to profitability for Peacock, Shell said the strategy is the streaming platform helps offset accelerating declines in linear TV revenues, due to cord-cutting and a worsening advertising market.
“We believe in the premium video ad-supported, dual revenue stream — essential broadcast and cable on streaming — driven by key programming,” Shell said of NBCU’s business strategy for its flagship. streaming platform. But as much as linear TV was in decline, Shell added: “The flip side is it’s still a giant business. It’s just balancing out the two businesses.”
It’s more crucial than ever for Peacock income to make up for declining cable TV earnings since the reduction in cable customers is placing pressure on affiliate fees and advertising rates. Shell addressed the TV advertising industry as well, bluntly declaring, “It’s clearly getting worse.”
He stated that the weakening advertising market was more a result of marketers’ hesitation to spend owing to uncertainties about the direction of the local economy. Advertisers, like the rest of us, are holding back as they try to predict the direction of the economy, he said.
At the same time, Shell wasn’t ringing any alarm bells, given advertisers are just being cautious. “The advertising market is bad, compared to the way it was a year ago or two years ago, which was historic highs, but it’s just not that bad,” he argued.
Shell also spoke cautiously about Peacock’s further ascent into the global market. While he worked to spread the AVOD platform throughout Europe, he claimed, “We intend to go global with Peacock, we’re just doing it market by market. Back over the Atlantic, is focusing on the U.S. market as it slowly enters into Latin America market by market.
The head of NBCU also spoke about the ongoing industry consolidation. “We have the capacity to accomplish anything. It will undoubtedly be fascinating. There is so much competition in our industry that you can anticipate there would eventually be assets available that must be appealing,” Shell stated.