NBCU Sees Q4 Revenue Gains

Revenues at NBCUniversal in the fourth quarter rose by almost 6 percent to reach $9.9 billion, while parent company Comcast Corporation was stable at $30.6 billion, with a net income that slipped by 1.1 percent to $3 billion.

“I am proud of how our team executed throughout 2022,” said Brian L. Roberts, chairman and CEO of Comcast Corporation. “We achieved the highest levels of revenue, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EPS in our history and returned a record $17.7 billion of capital to shareholders. We delivered impressive revenue growth in broadband; grew wireless lines by 1.3 million, our best result since launch; more than doubled our Peacock subscribers, surpassing 20 million at year-end; nearly tripled Peacock revenue to $2.1 billion; ranked second in worldwide box office; and generated record adjusted EBITDA at our theme parks. Importantly, we achieved these results while continuing to invest in broadband, our 10G network evolution, Xfinity Mobile, Peacock and theme parks, and we also took cost actions to further our growth in the future. We are excited to begin the new year as an innovative leader in large profitable markets with a strong balance sheet and a strategy to drive incremental returns and bring outstanding content and experiences to our customers. The board’s confidence in our position and path forward is underscored by today’s announcement that we are increasing our dividend for the 15th consecutive year.”

Media revenues at NBCUniversal rose by 2.6 percent to $6 billion, lifted by its Spanish-language coverage of the World Cup. Ad revenues were up 4 percent, thanks to the World Cup and Peacock, with distribution revenues rising by 3.8 percent. At the studios segment, revenues were up 13.1 percent to $2.7 billion, driven by a 15.9 percent gain in content licensing revenues and a 47.3 percent boost in theatrical. Theme park revenues were up 12 percent to $2.1 billion.

Sky’s Q4 revenues were down 13 percent to $4.4 billion but stable on a constant-currency basis. Direct-to-consumer revenues were $3.5 billion, reflecting increased revenue in the U.K., driven by higher mobile
and broadband revenue, offset by decreased revenue in Germany and Italy. Content revenues were up to $304 million, with ad revenues falling to $564 million. Sky ended Q4 with 23.1 million customer relationships, a gain of 129,000.

At Comcast Cable, revenues inched up by 1.4 percent to $16.6 billion, lifted by gains in broadband, wireless, business services and advertising, while video revenues were down by 5.6 percent to $5.1 billion. Total customer relationships fell by 71,000 to 34.3 million in Q4, with 440,000 video customer losses.