NBC Universal: Streaming Has Yet To “Peak”
In today’s day and age, the use of streaming platforms have become increasingly prevalent. The ease of access with which you can watch tv shows and movies is unprecedented, and the extent of which would be impossible to imagine 60 years ago. Having access to new movies and shows literally at your fingertips means more and more people are able to watch just about whatever they want, whenever they want, of course assuming you have good reception and a decent cell phone.
The idea of not having to set a timer to record your favorite show, and not only being able to watch it whenever and wherever you want, but also being able to pick which episode, fast forward, rewind, pause, and change to something completely different if you want hits home. Parents with a fussy child can pull up the “Baby Shark” video or play Frozen in a pinch. Not to mention it makes waiting at the DMV so much easier when you can watch the football game you’re missing to be a responsible adult. The uses are endless.
Streaming has become so popular one begins to wonder how long standard linear television will last for. NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell commented on the fact that even though there is an overall decline of general consumers who watch linear television, NBC is doing just fine. In a time when the amount of viewers on streaming platforms are increasing, and the viewership of cable tv shows among others are declining, NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell remarked on how well their streaming platform Peacock is doing, an ad-supported streaming platform that allows you to watch movies and shows was doing, and even went so far as to state that he believes that streaming hasn’t even reached “peak content” yet.
For a point of reference, in 2022’s third quarter Comcast saw significant losses, in excess of over 560,000 combined business and residential customers, whereas NBCUniversals streaming service Peacock saw an increase of clientele. So even in spite of the fact that linear cable is continuing its downward course, Peacock is growing and has reached over 15 million paying customers, and double that in active accounts.
Making content and selling it to another distributor is what helps viewers to engage more and more frequently, and has been a strategy that NBCUniversal has been implementing. Working with other companies helps NBCUniversal to maintain and gain viewers, engaging in a symbiotic relationship with other companies which increases revenue for both. For instance NBC owns the tv series “Hacks” and they made the decision to sell it to HBO because they felt it didn’t fit their platform Peacock, and now it is available to stream on HBO Max where it’s been incredibly successful.
Shell stated in an interview that “We clearly picked the right business model for Peacock,” which has a business model that revolves around advertisements making it accessible to more people and therefore more lucrative over time. Netflix who has maintained an ad-free environment has even decided to follow suit and have a cheaper tier that involves ads making the streaming service more available to more people in the market, and they plan to have this service available by the end of this year. Even though the influx of content pertaining to sports and new original content declined for peacock in their second quarter, they retained most of their 4 million audience members that they gained during the Winter Olympics and the Super Bowl.
NBCUniversal’s bread and butter is sports and they have now made watching NFL games much easier for their customers by offering simulcast games on Peacock. To top things off, NBC also has exclusive rights to broadcast the Olympics through 2032 making it a safe bet that things are going to continue to go well for the streaming platform. As of now, Peacock has yet to go international, however, even so, its new drama Bel-Air is the most watched original series on Peacock. The lead actor Jabari Banks takes up the mantle previously held by Will Smith in the classic and beloved sitcom Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and was heavily advertised by NBCUniversal during the Super Bowl.
Movies and theatrical releases have even begun to be more profitable due to the increase of viewing platforms people have access to. The theatrical window is still a good size, then the movies are being made available to stream on their corresponding platforms. Blockbusters like that of Disney’s “Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” after its 47 day theatrical restriction is able to be streamed on Disney+. “Top Gun: Maverick” had a similar window of 45 days in theaters before it was released to Paramounts streaming platform. Due to the booming movie industry and the very calculated licensing business therein the whole entertainment industry is seeing an unprecedented renaissance. As Shell notes, “movies drive (streaming) platforms” explaining that the more people have access to newer releases the more lucrative they become.
There are still many people who do watch linear television, however as the number of shows and movies are being made and released by streaming platforms as exclusive content, in order to keep up with the pop culture one has little choice but to hop on the bandwagon. Netflix has so much exclusive content it makes your head spin. They are cranking out so many new movies and tv shows it’s nearly impossible to keep up. That combined with other platforms like Hulu, Disney, Peacock, Paramount, the idea of paying a little less, and enduring ads, doesn’t seem so bad to watch the newest installment of a Marvel series.
Times are changing, and with it, how people watch videos and television are changing. Viewers are all slowly making the switch to streaming platforms for their news, sports, T.V. shows, and movies and that is putting pressure on traditional cable providers to offer a streaming platform of their own. Due to NBCUniversals business model they have been able to maintain their linear television audiences with minimal losses, and have even been able to succeed where others may not have. Their streaming platform Peacock is slowly but steadily becoming increasingly popular and may be the general direction where NBC is heading in the future.
About Vedette Finance
Tarek Anthony Jabre is the CEO and Founder of Vedette Finance. The company’s overall objective is to continue expanding its premium value slate, by developing, and producing, a diverse range of film projects. For more information, visit www.VedetteFinance.com