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Comcast (CMCSA) to Provide Free Access to Olympic Games

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Comcast (CMCSA - Free Report) announced that service members and honorably discharged Veterans will enjoy free access to the Olympic Games Paris 2024. This will be made possible by a collaboration with the Army & Air Force Exchange Service.

The U.S. service members and honorably discharged Veterans will be able to stream more than 5,000 hours of the Paris Olympics. This will comprise live competition across all 39 sports and all 329 medal events. Additionally, top stories, live streams of practice and warm-up sessions, viral moments, highlights and many more features will also be available.

The Paris Olympics is set to take place from Jul 26 to Aug 11. Service members will be able to stream it using NBCUniversal’s coverage from their computers or personal devices by visiting NBCOlympics.com (desktop) and the NBC Sports App (the United States only) and choosing the Exchange as their service provider.

Comcast’s Robust Lineup for Olympics to Aid Near-Term Prospects

Comcast’s upcoming exclusive streaming of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 is complemented by various shows, sponsorships, personalized recaps and more than 150 commentators. This robust line-up is expected to aid the near-term prospects of CMCSA.

CMCSA recently announced a roster of more than 150 commentators for its coverage of the Paris Olympics. The group includes Olympians and Paralympians who have won more than 90 Olympic medals, including Michael Phelps. 

The coverage will be accessible to more viewers of all capabilities. All digital livestreams’ closed captioning and audio description services will be available for blind, visually impaired, deaf or hard-of-hearing viewers. These features will be available across Peacock, NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app.

CMCSA is also harnessing AI technology to introduce Your Daily Olympic Recap on Peacock. It is a first-of-its-kind personalized experience. This show will feature clips from the Olympic coverage in Hall of Fame announcer Michael’s AI-generated voice throughout the Olympics.

Additionally, the company also announced the launch of 4K from Xfinity. It is a first-of-its-kind viewing experience on X1 that is a made in combination with industry-leading video, audio and network technology. It will deliver an ultra-high-definition viewing experience.

However, Comcast faces tough competition from streaming service providers, including Netflix (NFLX - Free Report) , Disney’s (DIS - Free Report) Disney+ and Apple’s (AAPL - Free Report) Apple TV+.

Shares of this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company have lost 8.5% year to date compared with the Zacks Consumer Discretionary sector’s decline of 0.2%. The stock has also underperformed Netflix, DIS and Apple’s return of 32.1%, 7.2% and 16.4%, respectively, in the same time frame. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Conclusion

Comcast’s expanding content lineup for the Olympics is a major positive for the company. However, competition in the streaming market remains a concern for CMCSA. 

Additionally, the industry-wide trend of declining profitability of residential video services due to increasing programming costs and retransmission fees has made it difficult for traditional companies like Comcast to survive.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CMCSA’s second-quarter 2024 earnings is pegged at $1.11 per share, which has declined a cent in the past 30 days. The consensus mark for third-quarter 2024 earnings is pegged at $1.15 per share, which has declined a cent in the past 30 days.

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