NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell declared that paid subscribers for their Peacock streaming service increased twenty percent over the last quarter. Of course, this report sounds promising, with Disney streaming services losing money and Warner Bros near finalizing branding for a combined HBO Max and Discovery+ service, this report sounds promising. However, like many leaders, he kept talking and perhaps saying too much.
As reported by Deadline, “NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell said Peacock has more than 18 million paid subscribers as of today, a nice bump from the 15 million it announced for the quarter ended Sept. 30, driven by programming migrated from Hulu, sports and Universal movies.” This increase in paid subscribers probably was influenced by the recent $1/ month promotion over the Black Friday period. However, some money is better than no money.
Yet, Shell kept talking! Reports are that he made it clear that NBCUniversal was coming for Disney’s spot in animation dominance. Shell said, “Universal now rivals Disney in animation, a key for IP that drives theme parks, among other things.”
Shell also boldly stated, “I honestly think that… our animation rivals if not surpasses Disney.” Yes, NBCUniversal looks good this year, with the “Minions: The Rise of Gru” movie doing well. In addition, things look glowing for NBCUniversal in contrast to Disney’s “Strange Worlds” movie release.
On December 5th, Shell told people at the UBS media conference that he anticipates a large amount of money coming from Disney to buy the rest of Hulu. That amount of money would help NBCUniversal overcome Disney’s top place in animation and other media ventures. Shell told people that due to the Hulu streaming service arrangement with NBCUniversal; he anticipated billions of dollars coming to his company based on their exit by early 2024.
Shell sounded confident about the animation department and streaming positive numbers. Do you think NBCUniversal can rival Disney animation? Do you think Shell’s optimism will continue? Let us know in the comments below, please.
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