WWE's Streaming Partner Peacock Still Losing Staggering Amounts Of Money
WWE streaming service partner Peacock losing money
Although we are slap bang in the middle of the ‘streaming era’ of broadcast media, not every venture into the realm is going to be profitable, such is seemingly the case with Peacock.
The US-based streaming service - owned and operated by NBCUniversal - was launched in April 2020, and absorbed the WWE Network into its roster of products in early 2021, a move that was met with some derision by US-based WWE fans.
Peacock’s earnings were recently released, and Wrestlenomics’ Brandon Thurston broke them down on Twitter/X, noting how the service is losing a staggering amount of money. Despite boasting around 28 million paid subscribers, Thurston highlighted that the service has “lost a cumulative $6.8 billion since its inception.”
What this means for the future of the WWE Network is unclear. WWE itself are in the middle of renegotiating rights for their ‘traditionally’ broadcast output, although NBCUniversal and WWE recently agreed on a “five-year domestic media rights partnership that will bring Friday Night SmackDown back to USA Network beginning October 2024,” with the deal believed to be worth over $1.4 billion.
The current deal between Peacock and WWE is in place until 2026.
