NBCUniversal’s adjusted earnings rose 6% to $2.274 billion in the third quarter, despite having a profitable Olympics a year ago, according to parent company Comcast, which reported its financial results Thursday.
Revenue fell 12.7% to $8.14 billion in the quarter. Excluding the Rio Olympics, revenue rose 6% and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization jumped 19.9%.
Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization for NBCU’s broadcast operations fell 15% to $32 million. Revenue for broadcast was down 30.9% to $2.133 billion because of the Olympics a year ago. Advertising revenue fell 45.6%
Adjusted earnings for NBCU’s cable networks, including USA, Syfy and E!, were up 1.5$ to $905 billion Revenue for NBCU’s cable networks fell 11.5% to $2.603 billion. Cable network ad revenue was down 16.5%.
Excluding the Olympics, broadcast revenue rose 12.3% and cable was up 3.7%
“At NBCUniversal, our momentum continued throughout each business unit, including terrific results at Theme Parks and Film, and strength in affiliate fees, retransmission revenues, and content licensing at our TV businesses,” said Comcast CEO Brian Roberts.
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Overall, Comcast’s posted gains in profits and revenues despite the impact of the Olympics and the hurricanes that devastated cities where Comcast operates.
Net income rose 18.5% in the third quarter $2.65 billion, or 55 cents a share, from $2.237 billion, or 46 cents, a year ago.
Revenue rose 1.6% to $21,319 billion. Excluding the Olympics, revenue rose 5.8%.
“I’m very pleased with the Company’s operational and financial results during the quarter. Adjusted EBITDA increased 5% despite the impact of the severe storms that affected our operations this year and the uneven comparison due to the Rio Olympics last year,” said Roberts. “At Cable Communications, we continued to drive growth in total customer relationships, deliver excellent high-speed Internet and business services results and make further progress in our efforts to transform the customer experience. Across Comcast NBCUniversal, we are uniquely positioned with a broad range of growth opportunities that set us up well for the future.”
Cable EBITDA rose 5.2% to $5.236 billion as revenue climbed 5.1% to $13.203 billion.
The company said it lost 125,000 video customers in the quarter and now has 22.39 million video subs. Video revenues rose 4.2% to $5.8 billion
