Peacock Hits 30M Paying Subs

(Image credit: NBCUniversal)

NEW YORK—Speaking at the UBS Global TMT Conference, Comcast president Mike Cavanagh said that its streaming service Peacock has hit 30 million paying subscribers and that Comcast received a $8.61 billion payment from Disney for Comcast’s stake in Hulu on Dec. 1.

That payment was based on an initial valuation of $27.5 billion; many analysts predict that Hulu will be valued higher and that Disney will end up paying more to buyout Comcast.

The two companies are currently in the contentious process of coming up with a final valuation.

During the conference, Cavanagh said that they were “at 30 million paying subscribers for Peacock now…at roughly $10 monthly ARPU" and that having achieved those numbers "in only three years” was a notable accomplishment.

He also said that losses for the streaming service are “going to peak this year at $2.8 billion of losses.” That is under the $3 billion in losses the company predicted in January.

In terms of Hulu, Cavanagh said that the Disney payment “represents the beginning of the process to value,” and that “we expect and certainly hope to get more than that once the process ends, but it's really just the beginning.”

George Winslow is the senior content producer for TV Tech. He has written about the television, media and technology industries for nearly 30 years for such publications as Broadcasting & Cable, Multichannel News and TV Tech. Over the years, he has edited a number of magazines, including Multichannel News International and World Screen, and moderated panels at such major industry events as NAB and MIP TV. He has published two books and dozens of encyclopedia articles on such subjects as the media, New York City history and economics.