The World Cup’s success flowed through to streaming, with Fox One adding 2.8 million subscribers in June and Peacock adding 2 million in Q2. Peacock also turned its first profit in Q2, of $189 million, though management warned results will vary by quarter. 

YouTube also benefited, with over 1.7 billion unique viewers globally watching World Cup related video. That helped drive ad revenue to $11.1 billion in Q2, up 13% year-over-year. YouTube is also pursuing a range of ad enhancements and AI features that will grow engagement and ad revenue going forward.  

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Netflix management quashed viewer engagement concerns on its Q2 ’26 earnings video call yesterday. Recent reports about a falloff from season 1 to season 2 among some of Netflix’s important originals sparked worries that Netflix’s business may be slowing. 

But as Colin and I discuss, management forcefully stated that season 1 to season 2 viewership in the aggregate remains stable. Management also shared views on revenue and profitability growth, programming strategy and spending, the role of live content, the popularity of its gaming initiatives, and importantly, how AI is already being leveraged throughout the lifecycle of content production. 

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Amid viewership challenges, Netflix continues to diversify into creator and short-form content, video podcasts and more. Is Netflix trying to YouTube-ify itself, and if so, will it work? We discuss all the angles. 

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Comcast is splitting off NBCUniversal, 13 years after it was acquired. While the general theme is that media and distribution do not belong under the same roof, Comcast’s missteps in streaming video are also key contributors, as we discuss. 

Peacock has lost at least $11 billion since its launch and has never had a profitable quarter. As we discuss in detail, NBCU came to the streaming party very late and has had various strategies with Peacock over the years. These missteps have led to a subscale service in a crowded industry in which giants like YouTube, Netflix and Disney+ set the pace. 

In Comcast/NBCU’s case, the results are especially unfortunate because at the beginning of the streaming era the companies had numerous inherent advantages. 

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