As Comcast prepares to spin off its NBCUniversal operations, the company reported that its streaming service Peacock was profitable for the first time ever in Q2 2026, with a EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) of $189 million, up $290 million from the losses reported in Q2 2025.
Paid subscribers Increased by 2 million net addition in the quarter to 48 million, driven by NBA Playoffs, FIFA World Cup and Love Island USA.
In an earnings call with analysts, Brian Roberts, chairman and co-CEO of Comcast said that “in just 6 years, we've built Peacock into a streaming business with real scale in the U.S. We've added 2 million paid subscribers in each of the last 2 quarters, had our biggest viewership month ever in June and reached profitability, all anchored by what NBCUniversal does best: premium entertainment, live sports, news and extraordinary storytelling.”
Jason Armstrong, CFO of Comcast provided more details. “Digging into Peacock specifically, revenue increased 54%, driven by strong growth in both distribution and advertising revenue,” he said. “Distribution revenue grew over 50% with paid subscribers up $7 million year-over-year and $2 million sequentially, reaching $48 million and advertising revenue increased nearly 70%, fueled by multiple drivers with notable callouts including the simulcast of Telemundo's FIFA World Cup, the NBA playoffs and the latest season of Love Island.”
During the World Cup, the company recently reported that streaming comprised 48% of Telemundo’s Total Audience Delivery for the FIFA World Cup 2026, up from 30% contribution in 2022. With an average minute audience (AMA) of 3 million viewers on Peacock and Telemundo streaming platforms, digital viewership grew +297% vs. 2022 (767,000).
In addition Spain vs. Argentina Finals on July 19, is the most-streamed World Cup match in Spanish-language history with an Average Minute Audience (AMA) of 13.9 million viewers, +370% over the most-streamed match of the 2022 tournament (Argentina vs. France Finals, 3 million AMA).
Overall, there were 21 games that averaged 4 million or more streaming viewers, up from zero in 2022.
