From The Verge · Nilay Patel · · 4m
Matt Strauss on keeping NBC's audience watching
The chairman of NBCUniversal Media Group explains how live sports, unified strategy and data drive growth as the company spins off from Comcast.
In brief
The chairman of NBCUniversal Media Group explains how live sports, unified strategy and data drive growth as the company spins off from Comcast. Matt Strauss, newly promoted chairman of NBCUniversal Media Group, says the company's strategy of treating broadcast, cable and streaming as one portfolio, centred on live…
New role at the top
Matt Strauss is now chairman of NBCUniversal Media Group, overseeing broadcast, Bravo, Peacock, NBC Sports, NBC News and Telemundo. His previous role was head of direct-to-consumer streaming.
Comcast's restructuring plan
About a month after Strauss's last appearance on the show, Comcast spun off most cable channels into Versant. Now Comcast is spinning off NBCUniversal entirely into a standalone company.
Peacock reaches profitability
Peacock became profitable this year, though it remains far from Netflix's scale. The streaming service is now a key part of NBCUniversal's broader portfolio strategy.
Live sports as the differentiator
Live sports held up cable and broadcast for years. Now they are the strategic asset that could make streaming a winner for NBC, with rights to NFL, NBA, MLB, Big Ten, Premier League and Olympics.
Unified structure across platforms
Strauss restructured the business eighteen months ago to collapse broadcast and streaming divisions. Now one programming team, one marketing team and one advertising team serve all platforms.
Record audiences in 2026
NBC is the number one network in total viewers. During Legendary February, NBC reached over two hundred twenty five million viewers in seventeen days with the Super Bowl, Milan Cortina Olympics and NBA All-Star Game.
Cross-platform audience movement
Forty percent of Love Island viewers, the number one streaming show of summer, also watched the World Cup. Moving audiences across platforms is critical to growth strategy.
Super Bowl reaches record heights
The Super Bowl on NBC reached about one hundred thirty seven million viewers at its peak across all platforms. This was the highest-rated live event in NBC's one hundred year history.
Sunday Night Football dominance
Sunday Night Football has been the number one show on NBC for fifteen consecutive years. The recent kickoff drew over twenty five million viewers.
Olympics strategy pays off
For Milan Cortina, NBC made all three thousand two hundred hours of content available live on Peacock. The Winter Olympics had about ninety six percent higher rating than Beijing, reaching about twenty five million viewers.
Digital minutes double
Milan Cortina Olympics generated double the digital minutes of every other Winter Olympics combined. Advertising revenue also doubled compared to previous Winter Olympics.
Reformatting for different audiences
NBC reformats content for different platforms without changing core production. Saturday Night Live sketches are now available in vertical video format on Peacock for mobile viewers.
Performance View for sports
Peacock introduced Performance View for NBA games, overlaying real-time data, shot probability and player names. Viewers can enable it or watch the standard production.
Unified advertising sales
NBC sells advertising as one portfolio across broadcast, cable, streaming and digital. Eighty percent of Peacock subscribers are on the ad tier, higher than almost any other streaming service.
Sports and streaming drive revenue
Six years ago, thirty percent of advertising revenue came from sports and streaming. Now it is closer to sixty percent of advertising revenue from streaming and sports.
Decision Sciences Group
Strauss merged research and decision sciences teams under Will Gonzalez to evaluate content across multiple KPIs including paid subscribers, advertising and brand benefit.
Predicting market shift to bundling
In two thousand nineteen, Strauss predicted the market would move towards bundling after cord-cutting. Today streaming services are ad-supported with tiers and focus on live events, replicating broadcast networks.
Share of time as the metric
Strauss says the streaming war will be about engagement and share of time, not subscribers. The average consumer spends five to six hours a day consuming media, a number consistent over the past decade.
The short version
Matt Strauss, newly promoted chairman of NBCUniversal Media Group, says the company's strategy of treating broadcast, cable and streaming as one portfolio, centred on live sports and events, is driving record audiences and preparing it for independence from Comcast.
