It appears that Netflix is not the only streaming service in a spot of bother right now, as NBCUniversal’s streaming service Peacock failed to add any paid subscribers in the last quarter, according to parent company Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA)’s latest trading statement.
It’s a particularly poor result for a streaming service only two years old, with Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) chief executive officer Brian Robert blaming a return to pre-pandemic consumer behaviour trends.
Comcast’s broadband subscriptions also stalled, although total company revenues and earnings managed to outperform expectations.
Comcast shares dipped over 9% in response to the results.
NASDAQ-listed streaming service ROKU also took a plunge in Friday’s pre-market trade by over 25%.
The company failed to meet earnings expectations in the latest quarterly results, although subscriptions did increase by 1.8 million.
Streaming recession take grip
These figures may indicate that a streaming recession is underway.
In a letter to shareholders, ROKU stated: “Reduced consumer discretionary spend is pressuring many verticals including TV and player sales,” while also blaming a “significant slowdown in TV advertising spend due to the macro-economic environment”.
Both Netflix and Amazon Prime increased their subscription costs this year, the latter for the first time in eight years (for UK customers).
But while Prime continues to add users, these increased costs may backfire as consumer discretionary spending slows down in the recession era.
The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) is expected to release its own set of results for its Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ services on August 10 in what could be a bellwether moment for the streaming sector.