Comcast said first-quarter net income fell 12.5% as revenue from its bedrock cable business dipped and ad revenue from its NBCUniversal revenue networks fell.
The Philadelphia owner of NBC, Peacock and the Universal movie studio said overall revenue fell slightly to $29.89 billion, compared with $30.06 billion in the year-earlier period. Net income came to 89 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for costs tied to amortization and investment, came $1.09 per share.
In a statement, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said the company was showing financial discipline during a challenging environment for the media industry. “With our significant free cash flow generation, disciplined approach to capital allocation and the strength of our diversified businesses, I am confident that we are well-positioned to navigate an evolving environment and capture future opportunities,” he said.
Like its rivals, Comcast is grappling with the migration of consumers away from traditional media platforms, such as linear TV and traditional cable, to new broadband and digital outlets. For Comcast, such dynamics are difficult not only because it operates several large traditional media networks, but also because it derives the greater part of its revenue from so-called “connectivity” operations, including the distribution of cable TV.
Comcast said it lost 199,000 domestic broadband customers during the period, a sign of the competition in that business, as well as 427,000 cable TV customers. Meanwhile, revenue from the operations that include NBCUniversal, rose about 1% to $6.44 billion. U.S. ad revenue fell about 6.8% during the quarter.
NBCU saw continued momentum from the Peacock streaming service, where revenue surged 16% and the quarterly loss from operations narrowed to $215 million, compared with a loss of $639 million in the year-earlier period. Peacock had 41 million paid subscribers, compared with 36 million at the end of 2024.
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