“However, taking into consideration the timing of content launches, consistent with what Brian mentioned, we would expect losses to be higher in the second half of the year.”

In context

“gher contractual rates, partially offset by linear subscriber declines. Advertising revenue, excluding contributions from the Olympics and Super Bowl, increased 4%, reflecting higher pricing and a growing contribution from Peacock, which was partially offset by linear ratings declines. Media EBITDA decreased 21% to $1.2 billion in the first quarter, including a $456 million EBITDA loss at Peacock. Excluding Peacock, Media EBITDA decreased 7.7%, reflecting higher programming and production costs associated with our broadcast of the Beijing Olympics and Super Bowl as well as higher costs driven by the return of our full primetime schedule compared to last year when our schedule was impacted by COVID-19. We continue to expect Peacock's EBITDA loss will be roughly $2.5 billion for the year. However, taking into consideration the timing of content launches, consistent with what Brian mentioned, we would expect losses to be higher in the second half of the year. Moving next to Studios. Revenues increased 15% to $2.8 billion, driven by higher content licensing and theatrical revenue, but EBITDA declined 51% to $245 million. The decline in EBITDA primarily reflects a difficult comparison to last year's first quarter, which benefited from a licensing deal with Peacock, including exclusive streaming rights for The Office with an offsetting adjustment reflected in NBCUniversal's eliminations. The remainder of the EBITDA decline reflects higher marketing costs ahead of numerous film releases planned for the second quarter, including Jurassic World Dominion, Ambulance and Bad Guys. Last, at Theme Parks, revenue increased by $941 million to $1.6 billion, and we generated EBITDA of $451 million, reflecting improved results at each of our parks compared”