Streaming is a constantly evolving thing, and brings new possibilities and problems for everyone who subscribes to some of the best streaming services. Something that viewers complain about on a regular basis is the cost of streaming and how it seems to have skyrocketed over the past few years. However, even with price increases, Peacock recently reported major losses in the latest quarter.
How Much Peacock Lost In The Latest Quarter
It’s fair to say that people have been frustrated with streaming services for quite a while now, and for a variety of reasons. From the amount of content to the sheer number of services that continue to pop up and those ever-increasing prices, it would be rare to find a fan who believes any of the current services are perfect for all their needs and wants.
This means that it’s not uncommon for services like Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN (all of which reportedly lost a lot of subscribers after Jimmy Kimmel was suspended) to see people drop in and out of their subscriptions depending on a combo of programming and prices, and sometimes other factors, at any given time. The Hollywood Reporter, though, has noted that Peacock recently went on record with a $217 million loss in its third quarter, which ended in September. And, this was despite maintaining 41 million paying subscribers.
Losses for streamers are frequently tied to the number of subscriptions going down, but as the streaming landscape becomes more and more complex, so too does how all the financials shake out, and the news isn’t all bad for the home of new series, The Paper.
Not only did Peacock manage to hold on to all of its subscribers (which has gone unchanged since the end of March), but that 41 million is more than a year ago at this period, when only 36 million had the service that’s the streaming home to shows like The Office, the long-running Saturday Night Live, Law & Order: SVU, and the expansive Real Housewives franchise. Plus, while the $217 million loss can certainly be considered a small fortune for its parent company, it’s a smaller one than at this time of year in 2024, when they recorded a loss of…hold on…$436 million.
Honestly, this mostly seems like a somewhat-bad-news/basically-kinda-good-news situation, especially considering some rather recent events. Peacock has been home to nearly all things WWE for several years now, but that ended with Wrestlepalooza on September 20, which began a very lucrative (but confusing and fan anger-producing) deal for WWE and ESPN (which was announced in August). The streamer is now only home to the blockbuster wrestling promotion’s catalog, NXT PLE’s and Saturday Night’s Main Event, with much of that changing at some point early next year.
I definitely canceled my Peacock subscription when I realized I wouldn’t be able to watch future PLEs there, and figured a lot of other wrestling fans had done the same. The service also raised prices for existing subscribers in August, and that combo meant the cost was a no-go for me.
Rather luckily for Peacock, though, it seems that this wasn’t the case for enough people for the company to see a change in subscribers during the third quarter, so now we just have to wait and see if the streamer can have the same fortune in the last part of its fiscal year.
