Peacock Lost $1.7 Billion In 2021
NBC's streaming service Peacock's losses grew to a staggering total of $1.7 billion by the end of 2021. The service was officially launched in July 2020, during a time that most of the globe was still stuck at home during the early COVID-19 international lockdowns. The service offered exclusive streaming for many popular NBC shows once their streaming agreements with other platforms lapsed, including the fan-lamented moment when The Office was removed from Netflix in January 2021.
Peacock was also home to certain day-and-date VOD releases of 2021 theatrical movies from Universal, including The Boss Baby: Family Business and Halloween Kills. Their exclusive programming includes original series like the musical comedy Girls5eva and the teen drama One of Us is Lying as well as series based on their IP including MacGruber and the updated Da Vinci Code prequel series The Lost Symbol. They also rebooted several dormant series from the '90s like Punky Brewster, Saved by the Bell, and the upcoming dramatic retelling of Fresh Prince, titled Bel-Air.
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Per Variety, Comcast reported its Q4 earnings this week, and the numbers for Peacock are looking dismal. Although the service had 9 million subscribers for their paid platform by the end of 2021, with their revenue reaching $778 million, they spent almost $1.5 billion on streaming content among other costs. At the end of the day, their loss doubled from 2020 and they are now $1.7 billion in the red.
Peacock's current plan is to double down on spending on their original content and focus on expanding their paid subscribers while enticing new ones to the platform. Over the course of the next few years, NBCUniversal and their parent company Comcast
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