• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, February 11, 2022

Comcast’s NBCUniversal is reportedly considering altering its current content-sharing agreement with Hulu to make some of its most “high-profile” programming exclusive to the paid Premium tier of its Peacock streaming service. 

The proposed changes, now said to be in the late planning stages, could mean that as of this fall, Hulu — which is majority-owned by Disney but 30%-owned by Comcast — would lose its next-day-airing rights for future NBC shows such as “The Voice,” “Saturday Night Live” and "American Auto,” according to Wall Street Journal sources. Today is NBCU’s deadline for informing Disney of its intentions, they said. 

Libraries of some NBCU shows, such as “30 Rock” and “Parenthood,” as well as some films, are under a separate agreement not up for renewal at this time, per the report.

Comcast’s ability to pull content from Hulu starting this year was part of the 2019 deal between Disney and Comcast that also allows either to force a sale of Hulu for a price of at least $9.2 billion by 2024. 

Comcast, which is looking to boost Peacock’s subscriber base by pumping up its content, has publicly acknowledged its desire to eventually shift content that now debuts on Hulu to Peacock. 

Last month, NBCU reported that Peacock had 24.5 million U.S. monthly active accounts at the end of 2021, but just 9 million paid subscribers — and that the company will double its investment on Peacock content this year, to $3 billion, and to $5 billion in subsequent years. 

Peacock’s revenue rose from $118 million in 2020 to $778 million in 2021, but its losses also more than doubled last year, to $1.7 billion. 

Meanwhile, competitive streamer Disney+ just reported adding 12 million subscribers in its most recent quarter, to reach 129.8 million global subscribers. Disney’s direct-to-consumer revenues rose 34%, to $4.7 billion — although D2C operating losses were projected to rise 27%, to about $600 million.

Hulu, along with ESPN+ and Disney+, make up the Disney Bundle that has been instrumental in driving Disney+'s remarkably rapid subscriber growth.