Comcast's NBC Universal Enjoys Top TV Ratings For 2016-17

Per Nielsen’s live program/same-day time-shifted ratings, NBC Universal, the media wing of Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) , finished the 2016-17 TV sessions with a 2.1 score, claiming the first place in the 18-49 demographic. NBC Universal has come first in this category for the third time in the past four years. Notably, the TV broadcaster has achieved the landmark without airing a Super Bowl or an Olympics.

CBS TV network of CBS Corp. (NYSE:CBS) has won the first place in terms of total viewers, which was recorded to be 9.6 million. This was followed by 8.1 million viewers for NBC Universal, 6.2 million for ABC, controlled by The Walt Disney Co. (NYSE:DIS) and 5.8 million for Fox TV, controlled by Twenty-First Century Fox Inc. (NASDAQ:FOXA) .

Comcast’s cable business is doing well with the NBC Universal segment witnessing significant improvement. In the first quarter of 2017, the segment’s total revenue of $7,868 million displayed a 14.7% year-over-year increase. Adjusted EBITDA was $2,017 million, exhibiting a 24.4% rise year over year. Within this segment, Cable Networks revenues were $2,641 million, up 7.6% year over year. Broadcast TV revenues came in at $2,208 million, rising 5.9% year over year. Filmed Entertainment revenues were $1,981 million, up 43.2% from the year-ago quarter. Theme Parks revenues were $1,118 million, up 9% year over year.

Having acquired the entire stake in NBC Universal from General Electric Co. (NYSE:GE) , Comcast is leaving no stone unturned to revamp Universal Pictures amid intense competition. NBC Universal purchased leading animation picture developer DreamWorks Animation SKG in a cash deal valued at $3.8 billion. Notably, Comcast is facing intense competitive pressure from The Walt Disney. We believe that the move to acquire DreamWorks Animation is a strategic one on the part of the company to stave off competitive threat.

Also, in order to beef up its digital media portfolio, NBC Universal aims to develop a partnership with online social news site, BuzzFeed, through collaboration on video, movies and advertising for multi-national corporates. Notably, BuzzFeed’s websites have over 200 million monthly viewers and its videos are watched by around 1.5 billion a month. The digital media brands are gradually gaining significant market traction especially among the young generation.

Price Performance of Comcast

Year to date the stock price of Comcast returned 16.96%, outperforming the Zacks categorized Cable TV industry’s gain of 8.01%. We believe this is the primary reason behind the stock currently carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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