NBCUniversal Chief: Live Sports and Unified Structure Drive Peacock Growth
NBCUniversal Media Group chairman Matt Strauss told The Verge how the company merged its broadcast and streaming teams. Parent company Comcast is meanwhile preparing to spin NBCUniversal off as a standalone company.
Matt Strauss, chairman of the US media company NBCUniversal Media Group, discussed the company's restructuring and the role of live sports in the growth of its streaming service Peacock on The Verge's Decoder podcast. The topic matters because Comcast, NBCUniversal's parent company, plans to separate the business into its own standalone company.
Organizational changes
About two years ago, Strauss led only the direct-to-consumer side, including Peacock. Comcast then spun most of NBCU's cable channels off into a company called Versant, and Strauss took over the whole media group. It includes the NBC broadcast network, Bravo, Peacock, NBC Sports, NBC News and Telemundo.
He said the broadcast and streaming programming teams have been merged, leaving one programming, marketing, product and technology, decision sciences and research, and advertising team. The structure was introduced about 18 months ago. In his account, broadcast helps Peacock grow, while Peacock draws audiences back to NBC and Bravo.
Audience figures
Strauss said that during 17 days in February, which included the Super Bowl, the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics and the NBA All-Star Game, NBC reached more than 225 million viewers. The Super Bowl reached about 137 million viewers at its peak across all platforms. The Sunday Night Football kickoff drew over 25 million viewers. He added that 40 percent of Love Island viewers also watched the World Cup.
Plans ahead
Strauss argued that becoming a separate company will let the business move faster and make clearer capital allocation decisions. The new NBCUniversal will also include Universal Pictures, theme parks and the British broadcaster Sky. Its sports portfolio covers the NFL, NBA, MLB, the Big Ten Conference, the Premier League and the Olympics. The spin-off decision was made by Comcast leadership, and Strauss said he was not in the room when it was taken.
