Image: Those About to Dies, Peacock
Comcast’s decision to spin off most of its linear assets lays the groundwork for its legacy media peers to follow suit. An analysis of Peacock’s catalog underscores why NBC and Bravo are so valuable to NBCUniversal - both significantly over-perform in audience demand, solidifying their importance to the parent company and its plans for the streaming era. While NBCUniversal’s linear networks still generate valuable free cash flow, their declining status makes a spinoff a logical step.
Keeping top-performing networks like NBC and Bravo ensures they can continue fueling Peacock’s growth. Specifically, Parrot Analytics’ Content Valuation model estimates that NBC titles and reality shows are a major factor in retaining subscribers on Peacock, which will become an increasingly important part of the equation as the platform grows its user base.
Across major streaming platforms in the US, Peacock had the largest share of demand for shows from a broadcast network in Q3 (36.1%). Shows from a cable channel made up a similarly sizable share of demand on the platform (38.7%), underscoring the importance of linear content to the streaming strategy at NBCUniversal.
NBC series like “Saturday Night Live” were not only a major driver of demand on Peacock but importantly they overperformed their share of catalog. NBC shows accounted for nearly a quarter of demand for shows on Peacock in October but only 8.3% of titles. Bravo is also overdelivering for Peacock. About 7% of shows on the platform are from Bravo and these drive over 10% of demand for shows on Peacock.
Meanwhile, the company’s investment in streaming original content is apparent. Peacock originals now account for the most shows on the platform by original channel or platform. However, these titles underperform their catalog share, accounting for 13.7% of shows on the platform in October but only 9.6% of demand.
The cable networks Comcast is looking to spin off have a mixed record when it comes to the value they deliver for Peacock. These channels account for a smaller share of catalog than Bravo or NBC. The shows from E! and Oxygen drive a smaller share of demand on the platform than their supply share while USA and Syfy actually punch above their weight even though they account for a relatively small share of titles on Peacock.
