Comcast’s Content and Experiences Group’s first-quarter revenue rose 24.2% due to “solid consumer demand” for the Epic Universe theme park, executives announced Thursday.
The company’s global theme park revenue, which includes Universal Orlando attractions, was $2.44 billion in the January-March 2026 period, up from $1.88 billion in the same quarter of 2025. Epic was released to the public in May 2025.
“Orlando continues to perform extremely well at Epic, driving strong resort attendance and increased spending per cap,” Comcast co-CEO Mike Kavanaugh said on a conference call with market analysts.
The 21.6% increase in operating expenses was primarily due to operating expenses incurred prior to Epic’s debut.
Attendance numbers and results for individual parks have not been announced. The idea of expanding at Epic was not directly mentioned.
“We love that business and we will continue to grow that business and recirculate the capital they generate back into the business over time to create value that exceeds the cost of capital,” Kavanaugh said.
Universal’s parks in the UK are progressing through planning approval “as the site begins to stabilize,” he said.
At Universal Studios Japan in Osaka, Comcast is “seeing the impact of China-related inbound travel trends, putting pressure on attendance,” Chief Financial Officer Jason Armstrong said.
Domestically, “we have yet to see a significant impact on park operations from high oil prices,” Kavanaugh said.
“That doesn’t mean it might not happen, depending on the duration of the impact on things like gas prices and plane tickets and things like that,” he said. “Let’s see how the next few quarters go.”
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Comcast’s businesses include Orlando-based Universal Destinations & Experiences, as well as NBC and Telemundo stations, Peacock streaming services, movie studios, and broadband, wireless and satellite providers.
On Thursday’s conference call, the company touted its media’s performance during a “legendary February” that aired the Winter Olympics, Super Bowl and NBA All-Star Game. Kavanaugh said Peacock had “accelerated momentum” and added 2 million subscribers in the quarter, posting about $2 billion in ad sales in 17 days.
He said the streamer is on track to reach profitability for the first time next quarter.
Media revenue for the quarter was $7.28 billion, up 60% year over year. Comcast’s overall revenue for the quarter was $31.46 billion, an increase of 5.3%.
dbevil@orlandsentinel.com
