NBCUniversal’s flagship streamer Peacock reached 28 million subscribers after adding 4 million during the latest quarter, and did so on a narrowed loss of $565 million.

The studio’s streaming service lost $614 million in the year-ago period. The entertainment conglomerate earlier pointed to “peak losses” at around $3 billion for Peacock this year, which on Thursday were reduced to a $2.8 billion loss outlook.

The latest Peacock earnings report, published as part of Q3 results from NBCU parent company Comcast, also showed streamer revenues coming in at $840 million, up 64 percent from a year-earlier.

Comcast Corp. president Mike Cavanagh on a morning analyst call said the media giant was sticking to its plans for Peacock to anchor its transition to the streaming space from legacy linear TV networks. “We continue to be pleased with our progress in the few short years since we’ve pivoted our streaming strategy as a result of the ownership changes at Hulu,” he said as Comcast execs predicted an improved financial performance for Peacock into 2024.

Overall, revenues at Comcast’s content and experiences division, comprising NBCUniversal’s TV and streaming business, international networks and Sky Sports channels, and its film studios and theme parks, rose just under 1 percent to $10.5 billion, while the adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization came to $1.97 billion.

The NBCUniversal studio division posted an EBITDA down 22 percent to $429 million and 23.6 percent revenue fall to $2.5 billion on lower content licensing and theatrical revenue. Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer generated over $900 million in worldwide box office, even as theatrical revenue overall at the studio fell 25 percent to $504 million due to higher revenue in the prior-year period from Minions: The Rise of Gru and Jurassic World: Dominion.

NBCU’s media unit results included $6 billion of revenue, up .4 percent from a year earlier, with an adjusted EBITDA profit of $7.23 million, a 6.5 percent year-on-year rise due to higher revenue and lower operating costs. Domestic advertising at the media unit fell 8.4 percent to $1.91 billion, due in part to lower political ad revenues in domestic markets compared to 2022, while domestic distribution revenues were up 3.8 percent to $2.5 billion.

During the latest quarter, theme park revenues rose 17 percent to $2.41 billion from Universal locations in Orlando, Florida, Los Angeles, Osaka and Beijing. At its legacy cable TV business, Comcast lost another 490,000 subscribers during the latest quarter as it faces the continuing impact of cord-cutting and the pivot by TV viewers to streaming platforms.

Elsewhere, Comcast shed another 18,000 residential broadband subscribers, while gaining 294,000 wireless subscribers. The combination of the drops in broadband customers and domestic ad revenue led Comcast’s stock on Thursday morning to fall by $2.83, or 6.6 percent, in value to $39.92.

During the analyst call, Comcast CFO Jason Armstrong reported the media giant had saved around $500 million in working capital during the current production shutdown in Hollywood amid the dual actors and writers strikes. “We expect this benefit in working capital to reverse as we ramp up to our normal levels of production in the coming quarters,” he added.

Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts on the analyst call declined to comment when asked about media speculation that pro sport leagues like NBA and NFL may invest in Disney’s ESPN service as it searches for strategic partners. But he did argue live TV sports on Peacock, including with its upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics coverage, underpinned his company’s growing focus on streaming live sports to engage and retain viewers.

“A big part of that is a commitment and belief that we see all sports finding a way over the next years to be more and more streamed. And that’s going to require more bandwidth. And that’s going to require and create an opportunity for us to have the superior product in the market. That’s our strategy and sports really is at the heart and soul of a lot of what we do,” Roberts told analysts about leaning into sports on Peacock, with additional benefits for the company’s broadband Internet strategy.

Roberts also talked about Walt Disney and Charter Communications recently unveiling a new carriage agreement that many see as reshaping the TV landscape. While applauding both companies for striking a new agreement that worked for them, he rejected there’s only one carriage model to drive the TV business.  

“Each situation is slightly different. What’s important for us is finding a way to help our customers have a great network, aggregate content and have access to that great content. And I think we’re really well positioned to do that. And we’re looking forward to executing upon that,” Roberts said.