The Office & WWE Helped Peacock Add More Subscribers Than HBO MAX & Netflix Combined

But that doesn’t mean they are all paying subscribers.

Comcast announced its quarterly earnings today, which included some fresh numbers on Peacock – its streaming service. Comcast said that it added 9 million subscribers in the quarter. Which does sound pretty impressive, considering HBO MAX added 2.7 million subscribers and Netflix added 4 million in the same period. Essentially meaning that Peacock added more than both HBO MAX and Netflix combined.

But there is one huge caveat here. Comcast offers a free tier of Peacock. And it also gives the service to its and Cox customers for free. Comcast also doesn’t mention how many are actually paying for the service. Compared to Netflix and HBO MAX, where everyone is paying for the service.

The Office and WWE helped Peacock grow significantly this quarter

Peacock now has 42 million subscribers, that’s just a tad less than HBO MAX which has 44.2 million subscribers. Which is pretty impressive for a service that is brand new (though it did launch last year). Whereas HBO has been around for a while, and HBO MAX’s numbers include HBO and HBO MAX.

So what has helped Peacock grow? Two things. The Office and the WWE.

The Office has been a big selling point for Peacock since it launched last year. There are still many hardcore The Office fans out there, and Peacock offers a lot of The Office content, as well as plenty of behind-the-scenes stuff too.

And in March, Peacock added the WWE Network to its library. Essentially buying out the WWE Network in the US. This was a really big deal for Peacock, as they are offering a cheaper product ($4.99 vs $9.99 for the WWE Network) and customers still get all of the PPVs included for that price. Which is actually a big deal for WWE fans.

While there’s no way to know how many customers signed up for The Office and how many signed up for the WWE, it is definitely a big number.