Data: Peacock ad spend up 115%
November 5, 2021
MediaRadar has released advertising data on NBCUniversal’s streaming service, Peacock. The data follows last week’s Q3 earnings report from NBCUniversal’s parent company, Comcast, which disclosed that Peacock drove $230 million (€199.6m) in revenue and an adjusted EBITDA loss of $520 million. In the same period a year earlier, Peacock drove $41 million in revenue and an adjusted EBITDA loss of $233 million.
MediaRadar’s software tracks and analyses ad campaigns for millions of brands across multiple media channels, including online, TV, mobile, and print.
Comcast’s promotion of Peacock:
According to its data, NBCUniversal’s parent company, Comcast, spent over $100 million to advertise their streaming service platform in Q3, which is up 181 per cent over ad spend in Q2 2021.
“The surge in spending was likely due to the Tokyo Olympics, which was also featured on Peacock,” said Todd Krizelman, CEO & Co-Founder, MediaRadar.
Digital advertising accounted for 45 per cent of Comcast’s ad spend in support of Peacock, with Facebook the top channel at 38 per cent of all spend. Key digital channels for Peacock also included: Snapchat, online video (YouTube), native and display ads, and podcasts. Interestingly, Comcast’s ad spend in streaming/OTT made up less than 1 per cent of its overall digital ad spend. When Peacock was promoted on streaming, ads ran on Hulu and Paramount+.
“The smaller volume of advertising on streaming, might need to be revisited,” added Krizelman. “Those audiences have largely cut the cord and are streaming savvy and ready. The largest audiences on Facebook are older and more committed to traditional TV viewing.”
Outside of digital, most traditional linear TV commercials for Peacock aired on USA Network, ABC, CBS, Fox, and Bravo.
Advertising on Peacock:
In Q3, Peacock’s top advertisers, in order, were State Farm, Verizon Wireless, Target, Apartments.com and Capital One.
Unsurprisingly, subscriptions drove the bulk of Peacock’s $230 million Q3 revenue. On the advertising front, spend increased 115 per cent quarter over quarter, from $22.2 million to $47.8 million. Of the 46 companies advertising across 136 different product lines in Q2, 72 per cent returned in Q3. The number of companies increased to 76 in Q3, and individual product lines increased to 172.
“Peacock’s ad business is experiencing strong growth,” said Krizelman. “The platform is also moving beyond sponsorships to allow for more programmatic and automated buying. This will attract a wider range of advertisers and drive greater revenue overall.”
The finance category accounted for 18 per cent of all Peacock ad spend in Q3.