NBCUniversal's Split From Comcast Will "Allow Us To Move Faster," Media Group Chief Matt Strauss Says

Primary Journalistic Dispatch & Direct Reporting

NBCUniversal Media Group Chairman Matt Strauss is extremely bullish on the company's forthcoming split from Comcast .

"There is genuine excitement" about the move inside the company, Strauss said Thursday at an investor conference hosted by BofA Securities. "We feel really good about our trajectory and our growth, and I think the independence is going to allow us to move faster. It's like a catalyst for us."

Strauss said being solo will give NBCU "the ability to be more flexible when it comes to partnerships" such as the company's landmark distribution agreement with YouTube , which was reached earlier this summer.

In-Depth Developments & Factual Context

"That's the type of innovation that we're looking to continue driving," Strauss said. "So, I wouldn't say that the independence changes how we're looking at media. I think it just gives us more flexibility to move quicker. We're not trying to build a broadcast business sitting next to a streaming business. We're trying to build a digital-first new media company where we're trying to get the maximum return for our investment across the portfolio."

The split is expected to take about a year to complete. While execs don't publicly characterize it this way, it was motivated in part by Comcast's sagging stock price, which reflects growing concern about pressure on broadband growth. Strauss didn't address M&A at the conference, but Comcast Co-CEOs Mike Cavanagh and Brian Roberts told investors on their second-quarter earnings call in July that conversations are already under way with potential deal partners.

BofA media analyst Jessica Reif Ehrlich, who moderated the discussion, interjected her enthusiasm for NBCU at regular intervals during the session. She closed by asking Strauss, who oversaw the launch of Peacock in 2020, what he envisions the streaming service becoming over the next five years.

Industry Impact & Strategic Analysis

"There is a tremendous opportunity to reimagine the experience for streaming," he replied. In particular, he said, focusing on ways to "super-serve" fans by supplementing the main programming with games, podcasts and other personalized offerings will be crucial.

One example in that veing that NBCU hopes to replicate, Strauss said, is Love Island USA .

Episodes ran six days a week over the summer, and while NBCU employed the typical algorithmic tools to try to keep viewers engaged with other programming, execs soon had a realization. "What we found is that at the end of the episode, many of those fans didn't want to watch another show. They wanted to continue engaging with Love Island . So what happens? They leave our platform. They go to social media. They're looking for clips, for games, for podcasts, and that is engagement that we built, but we're not monetizing, because we're not really providing that level of experience outside the premiumness of the content. And so, we've started to look at this several years ago. Well, what does it mean to be an entertainment platform?"

Forward Outlook & Market Perspective

Spurred by the data point that 30% of Love Island viewing is on mobile devices, NBCU built out a vertical video offering on Peacock, introducing it last year. "We're not creating the behavior," Strauss said. "We're tapping into the behavior, but we're moving that engagement back to our platform."

The management team, he said, is "starting to think differently about ways that you could drive engagement, where when you finish an episode, it's not the end. It's the beginning. And then we can introduce more ways for you to engage and give you more things that you love and continue to drive growth and monetization."

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