Comcast's second-quarter results on Thursday showed strength at NBCUniversal, particularly in its TV and film units, as the company prepares to split its media and broadband businesses into two separate publicly traded companies.
Peacock, NBCUniversal's streaming service, hit profitability during the quarter for the first time, according to CNBC. The service benefited from live sports including the FIFA World Cup and NBA postseason, which brought in new subscribers. Revenue in the content and experiences division, which includes NBCUniversal, rose almost 23% year over year.
The broadband side told a different story. Comcast lost 167,000 total broadband residential customers and 280,000 cable TV subscribers during the quarter. Revenue for the connectivity and platforms segment, which includes the Xfinity-branded broadband, mobile, and cable TV offerings, was down 3% to $19.8 billion. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization for that unit dropped nearly 6% to $7.96 billion.
Mobile remained a bright spot. Additions once again marked a record quarter and brought the total to 10.2 million lines. Comcast has positioned mobile as a key part of its strategy to support the broadband business.
"While the environment remains highly competitive, we like the progress we are making on the things we can control," co-CEO Mike Cavanagh said on Thursday's investor call.
The diverging results come weeks after Comcast announced it would divide the two businesses. In Thursday's release, co-CEOs Brian Roberts and Cavanagh called the split "an important step toward creating two focused companies with the financial strength and flexibility to pursue their respective growth strategies."
Roberts addressed the separation at the start of the investor call. He said that, following weeks of discussions with employees and others inside and outside the company, "I feel more positive and energized today than I was on the day we announced."
"This structure gives both companies the freedom to pursue the priorities that matter most to their futures," Roberts said. "There's a lot of work ahead, and we're moving with real urgency."
Cavanagh said work on the separation began immediately after the announcement, with the goal of completing it in about one year.
