What To Expect From Comcast's Peacock Launch

Media giant Comcast Corporation CMCSA and NBCUniversal will unveil Thursday afternoon the much-anticipated details of its new streaming video service dubbed "Peacock."

Ahead of the presentation, several experts discussed what they're hoping to see.

Details Matter

Axios media reporter Sara Fischer said Thursday on CNBC that investors will be paying close attention to some of the most basic details. For example, investors are eager to learn about the content and how the new service could be bundled to Comcast's existing subscribers.

Meanwhile, it will be important to understand if the streaming video platform will gain exclusive content from Comcast's other content making divisions, she said.

Comcast is among the final major players to enter the market, which Fischer said implies management had enough time to learn from the mistakes or successes of others. This is especially true on the marketing front for Walt Disney Co DIS, which emerged unscathed despite its streaming platform suffering technical difficulties on day one.

The late-to-the party launch also gave Comcast's executives more time to negotiate.

See Also: Cord Cutters Haven't Killed The Cable Industry — It's Bringing Them Their Broadband

Bad News Already Known?

Bank of America's senior U.S. media and entertainment analyst Jessica Reif Ehrlich said on CNBC she has a few key questions that should be answered.

It's public knowledge the streaming video platform will be ad-supported, but does management plan on also offering an ad-free subscription package?

Management also walks into the event having already divulged the "bad news" that the platform will lose $2 billion over the next two years. This creates an environment where expectations are low, but the sentiment could improve around the Olympics which will attract lots of advertisement dollars.

Reif Ehrlich has a $58 price target on Comcast's stock, which implies upside of 30% despite the upfront knowledge the company is entering a money-losing business. Comcast's cable business remains "really strong" while NBCU is "incredibly well run" with lots of upside potential across multiple areas of the company.

Comcast's stock traded around $46.43 per share at time of publication.

Photo courtesy of Comcast.