NBCU Q1 Revenues Slip, Sky Records Gains

Overall revenues at Comcast Corporation were up 2 percent in the first quarter to $27.2 billion, with gains at Comcast Cable and Sky, while revenues at NBCUniversal were down by 9 percent.

Net income at the company was up 55 percent to $3.3 billion.

“We are off to a great start in 2021,” said Brian L. Roberts, chairman and CEO of Comcast Corporation. “Our entire company performed well across the board, highlighted by another strong performance from cable, which posted its third consecutive quarter of double-digit Adjusted EBITDA growth while adding the most quarterly customer relationships in our company’s history. Outside of cable, I was also very pleased by the persistent recovery and increasing momentum at NBCUniversal and Sky. Our theme parks once again reached breakeven, excluding Universal Beijing Resort pre-opening costs. At Sky, customer relationship additions increased by 221,000, marking the best first-quarter result in six years despite the lockdowns imposed throughout Europe. Across all parts of the company, our teams are executing at a high level and collaborating to drive growth and innovation, and I couldn’t be more excited about our future.”

At NBCUniversal, revenues were down by 9.1 percent to $7.02 billion. Media revenues were up 3.2 percent to $5 billion, with a 3.4 percent decline in ad revenues partially offsetting gains in distribution and other revenues. Studios revenues were essentially flat at $2.4 billion, with a 14.1 percent gain in content licensing revenues—primarily from Peacock—helping to offset the 87.7 percent drop in theatrical revenues. The theme parks delivered revenues of $619 million, down 33.1 percent. Peacock has 42 million sign-ups to date, the company said.

At Sky, revenues were up 10.6 percent (2 percent on a constant currency basis) to $5 billion, with gains across direct-to-consumer, content and advertising. The platform increased its customer relationships to 23.4 million in the period.

At Comcast Cable, total revenues grew by almost 6 percent to $15.8 billion, driven by increases in broadband, wireless, business services and advertising revenue. The platform reported a net loss of 491,000 video customers in Q1. Total customer relationships increased by 380,000 to 33.5 million.