Comcast’s accelerated video subscriber losses continued during the third quarter when the company saw its customer base shrink by another 408,000.
The company lost 382,000 residential and 26,000 business video customers to bring its total subscriber base down to approximately 18.55 million—17.84 million residential and 705,000 business. The company has now lost nearly 1.3 million total video subscribers in 2021.
In spite of the describer declines, Comcast raised its video revenues by 1.4% to approximately $5.5 billion during the third quarter thanks to an increase in average rates.
Comcast’s overall cable communications revenues jumped 7.4% to about $16.1 billion due to more substantial broadband growth—the company added another 300,000 internet customers—along with higher revenues for wireless, business services and advertising. Adjusted EBITDA climbed 10.3% to nearly $7.1 billion.
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NBCUniversal saw a massive 57.9% spike in revenue, which reached $10 billion, due to the Tokyo Olympics on NBC and continued rebounds for the Studios and Theme Parks businesses. The segments adjusted EBITDA climbed 48% to $1.35 billion.
But the segment results were dragged down somewhat by Peacock. NBCU’s ad-supported streaming service contributed $230 million in revenue compared to an adjusted loss of $520 million. That brings Peacock’s total losses for 2021 up to $1.2 billion so far. At last count, Peacock had 54 million sign-ups and more than 20 million monthly active accounts.
“Our results at NBCUniversal continue to be driven by the ongoing recovery at our domestic Theme Parks, as well as the success of our linear and streaming Media platforms. At Sky, our UK business maintained its momentum, delivering healthy growth in revenue, EBITDA, and customer relationships. Going forward, I am excited about the opportunity to continue to invest in our global technology platform and other businesses while returning more capital to shareholders. This strategy is reflected in our most recent product launches – XClass TV in the U.S. and Sky Glass in Europe – as well as the $2.7 billion we returned to shareholders through a combination of share repurchases and dividend payments," said Comcast CEO Brian Roberts in a statement.