Peacock, NBCUniversal's streaming service, reached profitability for the first time, boosted by the FIFA World Cup, NBA playoffs and reality dating show "Love Island USA." The milestone comes as Comcast Corp. prepares to spin off NBCUniversal entertainment and news media businesses into a separate company. Peacock grew its paid subscribers by 4% to 48 million in the second quarter compared to the previous quarter, and reported earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $189 million. Comcast plans to spin off Peacock, NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks, Bravo, Universal film and television studios, theme parks and British TV service Sky into a standalone company, with a goal of completing the separation in about a year. Overall, Comcast's revenue declined 1% to $29.9 billion in the second quarter compared to a year ago, hurt by the loss of broadband residential customers, while net income fell 68% to $3.7 billion, partly due to a prior-year gain from the sale of its Hulu stake.
Comcast CorpPeacock turns first profit and Comcast plans spin-off of NBCUniversal, which may unlock value.
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