Prepared remarks
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Comcast's Fourth Quarter and Full-Year 2024 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Please note that this conference call is being recorded. I will now turn the call over to Executive Vice President, Investor Relations, Ms. Marci Ryvicker. Please go ahead, Ms. Ryvicker.
Thank you, operator, and welcome, everyone. Joining us on today's call are Brian Roberts, Mike Cavanagh, Jason Armstrong, and Dave Watson. I will now refer you to Slide 2 of the presentation accompanying this call, which can also be found on our Investor Relations website and which contains our safe harbor disclaimer. This conference call may include forward-looking statements subject to certain risks and uncertainties. In addition, during this call, we will refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures. Please see our 8-K and trending schedule issued earlier this morning for the reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures to GAAP. With that, I'll turn the call over to Mike.
Good morning, everybody, and thanks for joining us. We are very proud that the company produced record revenue of $124 billion and record adjusted EBITDA of $38 billion in 2024. In addition, we grew adjusted EPS by 9% and generated substantial free cash flow of $12.5 billion. This is despite the intense competition and strategic challenges that we faced across our businesses. And in our Residential Connectivity business, in particular, broadband revenue grew 3% for the year. And convergence revenue, which we define as domestic broadband and wireless revenue, grew nearly 5%, which is among the best performance across the converged players, despite our incumbent status in broadband and as we faced continued overbuilding, fixed wireless expansion and the challenges associated with the end of the ACP program. As you've already seen in our earnings release, net broadband subscriber additions were negative 139,000 in the fourth quarter, which is disappointing and worse than what we indicated in early December.
Dave will discuss in more detail when we get to Q&A, but in short competitive conditions remain intense, dynamic, and varied across our footprint and customer segments, and we see no signs of this changing in the near term. Dave is not sitting still in this environment, and he will discuss later in the call the actions that his team has underway. But let me be clear that all of us continue to strongly believe in the long-term opportunity for our Connectivity business despite the need to adjust to the ever-evolving competitive environment. Zooming back out, in 2024, we made substantial progress in each of our six growth businesses. To run through each one briefly, first, residential domestic broadband revenue grew 3%, as I just mentioned. Second, in wireless, revenue grew at a mid-teens rate, and we added another 1.2 million lines, taking us to 7.8 million as of year-end and to 12% penetration of our broadband customer base.
Third, we delivered strong results in Business Services, growing revenue and EBITDA at mid-single digit rates. And we continue to identify new growth opportunities like our recently announced plans to acquire Nitel, which will enhance our capabilities to serve multisite enterprise and mid-market businesses. Today, Comcast business is nearly $10 billion in revenue and a $60 billion addressable market in the U.S. Fourth, in streaming, we achieved a $1 billion improvement in Peacock EBITDA losses and delivered on the promise of streaming with the excellent execution of the Paris Olympics. Fifth is our Studio business, where we rank second in global box office, making it the third year in a row where we've been either #1 or #2. And our TV studios ended the broadcast season with more top 10 series than any other studio. And finally, in our Destinations & Experiences business, we finished the year strong across our parks globally after having experienced some temporary headwinds in the middle of the year.
Our team stayed hard at work preparing for the opening of Epic Universe in May of this year. Now turning to 2025. Our plans call for us to make progress on all of these fronts again, but let me highlight two areas for deeper commentary. First is Dave's action plan behind the commitment to drive continued growth in broadband and convergence revenue. We will lean into wireless more than ever before. We are the challenger in a market that is 2.5x the size of broadband with a capital-light strategy that does not require network trade-offs. Wireless is a meaningful differentiator as our converged offers provide great savings to the consumer. And so you will see us shift our strategy to package mobile with more of our higher-tier broadband products, both for new and many of our existing customers. In addition, we will be capitalizing on our broadband and WiFi network capabilities by automatically boosting the speeds of Xfinity Mobile customers by up to 1 gig whenever they connect to our 23 million WiFi hotspots, which is the largest and fastest WiFi network in North America.
Next is our world-class broadband network, which consistently delivers peak performance even as Internet traffic increases at double-digit rates. This fall alone, we saw NFL streaming and large game downloads drive the biggest consumption in Internet history. These trends play to our strengths as we have the best path to deliver data in the most cost-efficient way over the long term. So a top priority is driving our broadband network upgrade that will ultimately deliver multi-gigabit symmetrical speeds across every market we serve and incorporate AI throughout our entire network. Project Genesis, as we call it, is making great progress. Today, over 50% of our network is fully virtualized, and we will reach about 70% by the end of this year. Now that we are more than halfway through, we will be introducing new pricing and packaging in the upgraded markets in the coming months that will bundle wireless and Internet with faster upload speeds and simplified all-in pricing with the goal of removing points of friction with our customers.
Finally, we are creating new products designed to appeal to our key customer segments and provide more flexibility with attractive pricing. One example is our sports and news TV package announced just last week that combines the best linear networks along with Peacock at a price that is competitive against virtual MVPDs. We know sports fans want and need great broadband. And we will continue to look for packages like these to sell more Xfinity Internet and to lower churn for existing subscribers, which together increases customer lifetime value. Helping Dave across all of these priorities will be Steve Croney, who in the past month was promoted to Chief Operating Officer of Connectivity & Platforms. His areas of responsibility are Comcast residential and commercial businesses, including product strategy, sales and marketing, customer experience, field operations, and data analytics. Steve will serve as a catalyst as we push even harder for progress across the range of initiatives I just laid out.
Now moving to Content & Experiences. The big news of the fourth quarter was our decision to spin off a strong portfolio of cable television networks and digital assets to our shareholders in a tax-free transaction that we estimate will be completed at the end of the year. Earlier this month, we announced key appointments to the future senior leadership team for this new company with Mark Lazarus as CEO; and Anand Kini as CFO and Chief Operating Officer. As a well-capitalized independent company with a focused management team and strong portfolio of news, sports and genre-based entertainment, SpinCo will be well-positioned to lead in the changing cable and digital media landscape. Importantly, the creation of SpinCo will be a positive catalyst for what I've been calling future NBCUniversal. First, let me define what that looks like. When we announced SpinCo in November, we also announced the restructuring of the remaining NBCU Media businesses, which will operate together and consist of the NBC broadcast network with NBC Sports, which is the home of the NFL, the Olympics, the Premier League, NASCAR, golf and later this year, the NBA; and Bravo, which is a leader in reality television and home of beloved franchises, including the Real Housewives and Below Deck.
Together, NBC and Bravo reach 100 million U.S. households each month and help power Peacock. Then there's Peacock itself, which in four years has built a base of 36 million subscribers and integrates original programming, universal films, and exclusive sports and news as well as NBC News, the leading news organization in the United States plus Telemundo, America's #1 Spanish language content powerhouse and our local stations. With our Media business now focused on streaming and broadcast alongside our growing Studios and Destinations & Experiences businesses, the future NBCU will continue to be one of the largest media companies in the world with nearly $40 billion in annual revenue. NBCU will be on a growth trajectory fueled by our world-class content, technology, IP, properties, and talent, all working in concert with each other as an integrated media company. Our extraordinary parks business and industry-leading film and TV studios are already positioned for long-term success.
Theme Parks will be supercharged by the opening of Epic Universe, the most technologically advanced theme park ever. And just last week, our film studio earned a total of 25 Oscar nominations, the most in the studio's history. This is on the heels of a hugely successful run for Wicked, which at over $700 million at the global box office has become the highest-grossing film based on a Broadway musical. So to wrap up, I want to reiterate the confidence that our entire management team has in our business, allowing us to again raise our dividend by a healthy $0.08 per share. Through our dividend payments and share repurchases, we have now returned more than $55 billion to shareholders since 2021 when we resumed our buyback program. And while we've demonstrated our commitment to returning capital to shareholders, we've been transparent that our first priority is to reinvest to set ourselves up for revenue growth, and we've done so consistently across six key growth drivers.
We expect this formula to guide us in 2025 and the years ahead. Before I turn it over to Jason, I'd like to close by saying that our hearts go out to everyone impacted by the devastating wildfires. I am in awe of the first responders and others on the front lines and grateful to our news teams on the ground, covering this tragedy and sharing vital information as well as the operations teams and everyone in the community who have rallied to support people in this difficult time. Jason, over to you.
Thanks, Mike, and thank you, everyone, for joining us. I want to start with a high-level overview of our consolidated results. Total revenue grew 2% for both the fourth quarter and the full-year with our six major growth drivers, including residential broadband, wireless, Business Services Connectivity, Theme Parks, streaming, and premium content in our Studios increasing at a mid-single-digit rate and now comprising close to 60% of our total revenue. On a reported basis, we grew EBITDA 10% to $8.8 billion for the fourth quarter and 1% to $38.1 billion for the full-year. Excluding severance and other in both years, EBITDA grew 8% in the quarter and 1% for the full-year. Adjusted EPS increased 14% to $0.96 in the fourth quarter and 9% to $4.33 for the full-year. We generated $3.3 billion of free cash flow for the quarter and $12.5 billion for the full-year, returning over 100% of this to shareholders with $13.5 billion of capital returned for the full-year.
Now I'd like to touch on broadband, where we lost 139,000 customers in the quarter, while we grew ARPU 3.1%. Importantly, our measuring stick is revenue growth. And on that score, for the full-year, we grew broadband revenue 3% and convergence revenue by 5%. And into 2025, we expect broadband revenue to continue on a growth trajectory with convergence revenue again growing at an even faster pace than broadband revenue. Our view over the near term is that fiber operators will continue to overbuild us, and fixed wireless operators will continue to sell into remaining excess capacity. Longer term, our view is that we will face fiber as the primary competition in most of our footprint. In effect, there will be two multi-gig symmetrical wires in the vast majority of homes that we serve. In addition, there will be opportunistic, capacity-constrained competitors carving out a permanent part of the market in the form of fixed wireless and likely satellite as well.
That shouldn't be a surprise to anybody. That is and has for quite a while now been our view of the long-term structural and competitive characteristics of the broadband market. Along those lines, let me remind you that we've competed against fiber for over 20 years. And during this time, we have generally seen a repeated pattern where new fiber builds gain early market share wins and then settle into fairly equal market share amongst providers over the medium to longer term. Despite the increased competition, these markets maintain strong ARPU characteristics in line with non-fiber markets. Keep in mind that this past experience versus fiber was with prior-generation cable networks, where fiber was able to market a significant speed advantage. That's increasingly not the case now and will not be the case in the future where multi-gig symmetrical parity will exist among both of us and will further differentiate our offering with everything that we surround around broadband like whole home coverage, control, security, aggregation, best in-home WiFi, and added value in wireless.
Speaking of wireless, we have an incredible hand in conversions, underpinned by ubiquitous broadband network, product differentiation, and a super competitive wireless product available to all of our customers. In fact, in convergence terms, while we are the incumbent in the $80 billion U.S. residential broadband market, we are the challenger in the far larger $200 billion U.S. wireless market. Wireless is an integral part of our broadband strategy. It reduces churn and is a key acquisition tool and a driver of our strong convergence revenue growth, which has been in the mid-single digits and at the high end of our telecom peers and competitors. And with 7.8 million total wireless lines, which is 12% penetration of our residential broadband customer base or around 6% of our total passings, we have a long runway ahead. Finally, on Business Services, the fourth quarter, the full-year 2024 and our outlook for 2025 all fit within the same framework.
And that is within the small and medium-sized business segment, we're operating in the same competitive environment as residential broadband. And similarly, despite the elevated competition, we are delivering nice revenue growth in this segment driven by higher adoption of our suite of advanced services that deepens the relationship with our large base of customers. Add in significant progress in revenue growth we're seeing across larger enterprise and government contracts and the overall category of Business Services has been growing at an industry-leading mid-single-digit range with a total revenue base approaching $10 billion and a margin at nearly 57% as of year-end. Putting this all together, in the quarter, Connectivity & Platforms revenue remained consistent with the prior year as 5% growth in our connectivity businesses was offset by revenue declines in video and other, while EBITDA grew 2% and margins expanded by another 80 basis points when excluding severance and other in both periods.
Looking ahead, we intend to lean into wireless, which means additional investment there, but the overall framework for growth over the long term remains the same: a mix shift driven by continued strong growth in our connectivity businesses, which creates opportunity for further margin expansion, the same dynamics that have driven our results for the past several years. And we still believe we can deliver that in 2025 despite certain higher areas of investment. In addition, we landed our CapEx intensity at just over 10% in 2024 and expect to continue in and around this range for 2025. This all creates continued favorable characteristics for strong and growing net cash flow generation coming out of Connectivity & Platforms. In the Content & Experiences segment, I would frame the business as follows. In parks, we're seeing some stabilization after a slowdown in the second and third quarters.
Adjusted for Epic preopening costs of around $35 million, EBITDA in the fourth quarter was flat year-over-year with attendance trends improving across most of our parks, including Orlando, solidifying the foundation for our opening of Epic Universe in May. We couldn't be more excited for the launch of Epic. We've also been clear we will have significant costs leading up to this opening with over $100 million or the vast majority landing in the first quarter. In addition, we will have incremental domestic marketing spend as well as an impact from the tragic fires that raged around Hollywood. Our Studios continue to deliver as this was the third straight year in which we've been in the top 2 in global box office. And we are excited about the 2025 slate, which includes How to Train Your Dragon, Jurassic World Rebirth, and Wicked: For Good, just to name a few. While we expect another strong theatrical and PVOD run, Studio EBITDA growth will be impacted in 2025 by higher marketing expenses tied to a larger film slate and lower carryover from prior years, given the writers' and actors' strikes in 2023.
In Media, we are making a successful pivot to streaming as evidenced by Peacock's strong revenue growth of 46% for the full-year, driving a $1 billion improvement in Peacock's EBITDA loss. And we expect to make continued improvement in Peacock EBITDA losses in 2025. We couldn't be more excited for the year ahead as we welcome the NBA back to NBC and also on Peacock later this year. To put 2024 in perspective, we dealt with potentially the most competitive environment we faced in broadband, saw an unexpected but significant temporary slowdown in Theme Parks and made major investments in our key growth initiatives. Yet when you sum it all up, we grew adjusted EPS nearly double-digits and generated $12.5 billion in free cash flow, speaking to the overall breadth and resilience of our business. At the same time, we maintained a healthy balance sheet, ending the year with net leverage at 2.3x, while returning $13.5 billion to shareholders, including over $8.5 billion in share repurchases.
Since we restarted our buyback program in 2021, we've reduced our share count by nearly 20% and see significant room to continue to deliver on this trajectory. With that, let me turn the call over to Brian.
During all of that, I'm certainly proud that we had the best year in our 60-year history with record revenue, EBITDA, and EPS along with significant free cash flow, all while returning so much capital to shareholders and never take any of that for granted. Our team is executing in industries that are going through rapid and exciting transformation. And it's our founding principle to lean into that change and constantly look for new growth as we have always done. I also like to step back and think about our assets from our 64 million homes passed with really fast gig speed Internet to our robust backbone with hundreds of thousands of miles of fiber, localized data centers complete with space, power, and connectivity. Together, this network gives us a competitive advantage in the markets we serve but also importantly positions us really well for new growth opportunities in a world hungry for connectivity that will be increasingly driven by AI and edge computing.
So as we turn the page to the coming year, there's a lot to be excited about, starting with our most recent Comcast business acquisition of Nitel; the launch of Epic Universe, much awaited; and our new 11-year deal that will welcome the NBA back to NBC, just to name a few. We have a wonderful company, but nothing beats good execution. And as you heard, our team is already hard at work and energized for what lies ahead in 2025 and beyond. Marci, now over to you for Q&A.
Thanks, Brian. Operator, let's open the call for Q&A, please.
Questions and answers
Thank you. We will now begin the question-and-answer session. Our first question is from Ben Swinburne from Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Good morning. I'd like to revisit your comments on wireless. It’s clear that you are enthusiastic about that opportunity and it appears there is a shift in strategies. Should we anticipate an acceleration in net additions? Is that what success looks like? Could you also elaborate on the investments that Jason mentioned and how you're addressing challenges such as handset subsidies? Additionally, I know you touched on it, but I’m curious if Brian could share his thoughts on the vision for NBC's Media business following the spin-off, particularly in relation to sports and broadcasting. Looking ahead, how do you view the growth prospects for what was traditionally considered NBC's television business? Thank you.
Hey Ben, I’ll start and then maybe Dave can share insights on wireless and Brian can talk about Media. To begin with wireless, we’re happy with reaching 12% penetration. We believe we have a strong position in offering a converged service to consumers, featuring the best broadband product available to 63 million homes, along with a competitive mobile phone offering on the best network with top devices. We've been working on this for a few years and are encouraged by our progress, and our goal is to intensify our efforts. We’ve observed Charter's strategies and are considering simplifying our bundles. One point mentioned earlier is that as we upgrade our network, we will enhance our products and create a more integrated offering for mobile and broadband. We also aim to streamline our marketing approach for these services. Furthermore, we’re focusing on increasing penetration within our existing customer base, particularly among our highest-value wireless segments. This strategy will influence our investments going forward, and that’s what Jason was referring to. Dave, do you want to add anything?
Yes, Mike. Hi Ben, we had some success with our previous strategy involving wireless and buy one, get one offers, which we were pleased with. However, I felt it was the right time to change our approach to package mobile rates with our higher-tier broadband products. This is a fundamental shift that will affect acquisition, base management, and retention. The inclusion of mobile is part of our overall goal to drive converged revenue, as both Mike and Jason have mentioned.
I want to share a final thought on wireless. When the industry transitioned from four to three players, it generally leads to increasing prices, which presents a stronger business opportunity for new entrants like us. The current dynamics suggest that this will foster significant growth for many years ahead. Regarding the Media business and the spin, I believe it makes a lot of sense. The vast majority of viewing on Peacock does not include the spun networks, indicating a need for their direct-to-consumer digital initiatives, focus, and investment. I am confident that Mark Lazarus, Anand Kini, and their team will excel, though it may take some time to launch. Mike has already started to operate as if the spin has occurred, with a new team in the remaining Media businesses and leadership in place and active. We had a meeting recently, and they have an exciting roadmap that starts with Epic Universe this May.
In the Television business, the content we produce works well on Peacock, and we also supply it to other platforms. We provide content to a variety of platforms, and with the addition of the NBA, the Olympics, Sunday Night Football, the Premier League, and new shows like Day of the Jackal, we have a lot to offer. There's also a project called the Americas coming up on NBC, which we plan to use to drive traffic to Peacock and vice versa, creating a very exciting business. Mike, do you have anything to add?
I agree with your points. The assets being transferred to SpinCo are strong, as many have noted. However, as Brian highlighted, the 98% quote indicates they weren't essential to our focus on Peacock and the streaming future for NBC broadcast. These assets will likely be better managed and have enhanced opportunities for our shareholders under the capable leadership team Brian described, which operates with low debt and strong fundamentals. This change has historically proven beneficial, as we've had great ideas from the onset. Mark and Anand have contributed several new ideas, with more to come. This will also leave us with a dedicated management team under Donna Langley and Matt Strauss, who will oversee the NBC broadcast assets and Bravo, a leader in reality television. Both of these significantly contribute to the viewership of Peacock, alongside movies and sports. By separating the two businesses, the management team can come together cohesively, enabling better decisions on content and investments across NBC Broadcast, Bravo, and Peacock. This will create a more streamlined process and support a unified strategy that combines both broadcast and streaming, rather than just focusing on Peacock alone. We are aiming to optimize this approach in the coming years.
Last point I would make is, Mike, you have stepped into this, figured it out, executed extremely well. There's more energy bounced to step in both parts, SpinCo and the RemainingCo. So we're very excited, and your leadership is noticed and appreciated.
Thanks everyone.
Thanks, Ben. Operator, next question please.
The next question is from Craig Moffett from MoffettNathanson. Please go ahead.
Hi, thank you. Dave, can you share insights from your Project Genesis markets, particularly regarding your focus on marketing and promotion to inform people that this is complete? Please describe what that looks like and what changes you anticipate in the markets now offering symmetrical broadband with speeds similar to fiber.
Got it. Hey, Craig. First off, we're pleased to report that we're on track with Genesis. Fifty percent of the first phase is complete, and we're progressing well. By the end of this year, the majority of the plant will have upgraded to the mid-split configuration. We're satisfied with the operational improvements and the architecture, particularly the potential for virtualizing elements to enhance our daily network management, making it more efficient and effective. We've made significant strides. However, the key takeaway today is that while we have an extensive roadmap to achieve ubiquitous multi-gig symmetrical service, we aren't waiting to act. We're actively advancing the first phase of upgrading the plant to introduce simplified packaging that should positively impact the marketplace. This will include our best broadband tiers and mobile services, streamlining and alleviating various pain points we've encountered, including a quicker path to everyday pricing. This is a crucial moment for us, and we're excited about this opportunity. We expect to ramp up our efforts in the second quarter.
Dave, can you share any learnings for how competition is different in those places? Or is it still too early, because you haven't really launched the marketing around it yet?
Yes, it is still too early, Craig. We'll launch the simplified packaging side of things in the second quarter. What we have seen is that it's an important first step of upgrading speed capability, and when combined with great WiFi in the home, it represents a good fundamental step forward. However, it's too early to discuss any competitive shift until we get the full marketing underway.
Got it. Thank you.
Thanks, Craig. Operator, next question please.
The next question is from Michael Ng from Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.
Hey, good morning. Thank you for the question. I just have two. First, on domestic broadband, could you just talk a little bit about the ARPU outlook? Should we expect ARPU growth to accelerate from here, just given the absence of things like hurricane rebates and some of the price increases implemented at the beginning of this year? And then for Jason, I was just wondering if you could talk about free cash flow for next year. Obviously, a few moving parts between cash taxes, the cash tax refund and CapEx potentially coming down in C&E. So any thoughts there would be great? Thank you.
Michael, this is Dave. Let me start with your point on ARPU. So we expect continued healthy ARPU growth. Our overall focus is on broadband and convergence revenue growth though. That is the main point as Mike and Jason have called out. And the good news is there are different levers we have and we'll continue to pull, but in the context of how we really are focused on maximizing overall revenue growth. So in a dynamic environment, we've got those levers to pull, and we will make the right decisions to optimize the levers to build longer-term sustainable revenue growth. So as I mentioned before, we are implementing a number of new approaches, and we'll continue to make the best decisions for now and in the long term. So going to give you an example. Whenever we accelerate wireless and pushing harder there, we think it's the right, smart competitive decision. We may not be right within the range that we have been, but still expect ARPU to be very healthy. Jason?
Yes, Mike, thank you for your question. Let me provide a comprehensive overview of free cash flow while stepping back a bit. We discussed various segments of the business during the call. Starting with free cash flow, I will briefly touch on working capital, provide insight on CapEx, and mention cash taxes as well. First, the underlying base is solid free cash flow generation. In 2024, we generated $12.5 billion, despite facing a $2 billion one-time headwind that we highlighted in the second quarter. Therefore, true free cash flow was likely $2 billion higher than that figure. This forms the baseline for 2024. Moving into 2025, we noted in today’s release that we anticipate a beneficial impact on cash taxes, approximately a couple billion dollars, which will serve as a tailwind for us. We will clarify this at the right time, viewing it as a one-off gain, but it is certainly advantageous compared to 2024 when cash taxes were unfavorable.
Working capital is another critical element. While it is challenging to provide full visibility and predictability, I can refer to the past couple of years. The working capital headwind in 2024 was about $1.5 billion, while in 2023, it was around $2 billion. These figures provide a general framework for 2025. It is important to note that the primary causes of working capital headwinds are linked to our growth businesses, such as handset subsidies, production related to various streaming properties, and sports rights. These factors will remain relevant for 2025 and beyond. Regarding capital intensity, we previously shared our expectations for cable capital intensity, which ended the year just over 10%. This is also our outlook for 2025, amidst strong ongoing efforts to expand into new homes. We will continue to make significant investments in this area while maintaining our capital intensity strategy. Additionally, concerning the Content & Experiences segment, we are approaching the conclusion of the Epic construction phase, which will relieve some pressure over the course of 2025.
Great, Thank you, Jason. Thank you, Dave.
Thanks, Mike. Operator, next question please.
The next question is from Jonathan Chaplin from New Street Research. Please go ahead.
Thanks for the insights. Following up on the wireless discussion, I'm curious about the strong revenue growth this quarter, especially considering the solid subscriber increase. Could you clarify how much of that growth was driven by ARPU growth in wireless compared to equipment revenue? Additionally, I've heard that the MVNO contract might be up for renewal this year. Can you provide some context on what you expect in terms of pricing for that renewal and how it could affect margins in the wireless business? Thank you.
So Jon, let me start with wireless growth and sort of I think your question really was sort of service versus equipment. I would tell you, very healthy growth in wireless. We added 1.2 million subs year-over-year. That translated into mid-teens revenue growth. And if you were to break it down in terms of service versus equipment, service revenue growth was sort of right in that range as well.
Yes, Jonathan, Dave. There's no new news regarding our MVNO approach. We are satisfied with our current position. As Brian mentioned, with the marketplace consolidating, cable is in a unique position to create real value, not just for us but also for our partners. However, there are no new updates at this time.
And I think Mike is highlighting that we are a significant partner at this stage, which is important to consider, and we are not the only partner involved in wireless. So I believe this is an important change from discussions in previous years.
Thanks, Jonathan. Operator, next question please.
The next question is from Jessica Reif Ehrlich from Bank of America Securities. Please go ahead.
Thank you. I’d like to shift focus a bit from the new strategy. Last quarter, you talked about the restructuring, SpinCo, and possible consolidation in streaming. Can you provide us with an update on that? Do you see the market consolidating in streaming? Any thoughts on mergers and acquisitions relating to cable? Will scale enhance your competitive position in broadband and wireless? Regarding Media, are there any components you believe are still lacking or that would benefit from scale? Also, could you elaborate on the strategy for SpinCo? You touched on streaming, but will the emphasis be on sports, news, acquisitions, or cost savings?
Sure, it's Mike. I'll start and then Brian will follow. Regarding SpinCo, it aligns with what I mentioned earlier. The assets included in SpinCo are leaders in genre-based entertainment, sports, and news. The focus will be on effectively managing those businesses, which the leadership team is already working on by appointing new leaders and developing a strategy. When they are ready to share details about their strategy in the future, we will return to discuss it. The intention is for them to operate as a strong, independent collection of businesses with significant cash flow potential for many years ahead, solid market positions, and an increased focus. I'm optimistic that this creates valuable opportunities for our shareholders, regardless of how Mark and Anand decide to implement that strategy. As for the remaining Media business within NBCU that I mentioned earlier, we're not seeking anything beyond our existing assets and focus.
We aim to align Donna and Matt with their teams and integrate the assets I referenced earlier into a new media group, which I believe will greatly support our streaming strategy for Peacock with those NBC assets. Regarding partnerships, we are completely open to exploring options, as I mentioned in the last earnings call. We'll consider all possibilities for partnerships and bundling. The key is to determine what each party can bring to the table, ensuring our assets are closely aligned with a strong strategy for Peacock, which positions us well for any partnerships that may develop. However, if those partnerships do not materialize, we are capable of managing our current operations effectively. Expanding further to our overall Media or Content & Experiences business, we will combine the new media company with NBC, Peacock, Bravo, and others alongside a successful Studio business that has shown growth, strong leadership, and consistent success in recent years, with promising slates for this year and 2026.
The TV studios business will continue to evolve under established leadership alongside decisions made for programming with Donna, setting the Studios up for ongoing success and growth. Lastly, regarding parks, which we have discussed previously, when assessing the remaining components of the media company, it represents a robust business, one of the strongest in the nation, if not globally. This sets a high standard for considering any M&A activity in this area compared to simply managing our current operations. We are content with our existing assets, whether or not we pursue any inorganic growth. That's the situation for the Media side, and Brian will add further details.
I believe that's a thorough answer. Regarding SpinCo, I want to highlight a couple of points. First, we have the advantage of being first movers, and we've noticed others discussing similar ideas. Secondly, they will possess a strong balance sheet, likely envied by many, which gives them the flexibility to choose the best strategy. We want to provide them the necessary time and space to develop that strategy. As Mike mentioned, they will return to share their plans, but that won’t happen until later in the year. Generally, you can apply your answer about Media to other areas as well. We continuously evaluate everything, and that’s a key part of our role as management. However, we maintain high standards and rarely take action without careful consideration. Currently, the company has reported the best year in 60 years, marked by revenue growth, EBITDA growth, and free cash flow. Jason previously established an algorithm goal for us, proposing slightly slower EBITDA growth than in the past. However, considering our CapEx and tax profiles, we anticipate reliable performance in free cash flow and earnings per share that aligns closely with a 9% growth target, approaching double digits. For this algorithm to accelerate, we need to see significant improvements. Overall, I am satisfied with our current standing, and I believe Mike’s response addressed some specifics regarding Media.
Thank you.
Thanks, Jessica. Operator, next question please.
The next question is from John Hodulik from UBS. Please go ahead.
Great. Maybe for Dave regarding the broadband question. The change you observed in December, do you think it was primarily due to competition? If so, could you provide a breakdown? Or were you experiencing more pressure from fiber to the home or fixed wireless? You also mentioned satellite for the first time. Are you actually seeing that now, or is it just an expectation for the future? Then for Jason, one of the areas where you have succeeded over the past few years is in improving margins in cable and on the connectivity side. Does that still hold as we look ahead, considering the new strategy to combine broadband and wireless more aggressively? Thanks.
John, this is Dave. Let me start by saying that we may have been a bit too optimistic about what we were observing in the price-sensitive segment earlier in December. The key takeaway, however, is that competition remains fierce across all segments. There has been a shift, as fixed wireless is stable but still aggressively marketed, while fiber continues to expand its presence.
John, addressing your questions on margins in the C&P segment, we have a strong track record of margin expansion. The primary contributors to this are the shift in our business mix, particularly towards connectivity, which offers higher margins. Additionally, improvements in customer service interactions, such as reduced truck rolls and incoming calls to our call centers, have played a significant role, with metrics showing a 40% to 50% decrease in the last five to six years. We expanded margins substantially in 2024, and while we anticipate a slightly lower rate of margin expansion this year due to reinvestments back into the business, including wireless, our margins remain strong and industry-leading. We also see continued growth potential. I want to highlight Steve Croney, who has taken on additional responsibilities after serving as CFO of the C&P business. His financial discipline has been invaluable, and the progress in margin expansion reflects the efforts of him and his team.
And John, one more follow-up to your point on satellite, just to clarify. The two main ones are the ones I mentioned between fixed wireless and fiber. Satellite, we see it's just been de minimis, has not been a material thing for us, not being dismissive of it, though. We're going to watch it very closely, but we see it being more active in rural areas and not so much in suburban, urban areas at this point at all.
Great. Thank you.
Thanks, John. Operator, we have time for one final question.
Next question is from Steven Cahall from Wells Fargo. Please go ahead.
Thank you. I just wanted to go back to the broadband ARPU dynamics. I think you said very healthy ARPU growth, but you do lean into mobile. What we've seen with some of your peers is there is some dilution to ARPU. You've historically managed this really strong 3% to 4% growth. So just wondering if you're shifting that strategy a little bit around that 3% to 4% growth as you move into more of the converged bundle? And then on Peacock, thank you for the guidance for losses to improve. I'm just wondering if that's true in the second half of the year as well when the NBA costs come online and push OpEx higher. I know revenue is going to step up, too, but just trying to figure out if you think the NBA will be positive to Peacock EBITDA in 2025? Or if it's a bit of a headwind and then kind of ex NBA, there's a lot of improvements going on beneath the surface? Thank you.
Steven, this is Dave. I'd like to start by discussing ARPU and a few points related to it. You're right that mobile plays a critical role in our future and has been a significant contributor for a long time. We're enthusiastic about intensifying our focus in this area. We have various strategies to manage ARPU, and we'll be addressing all of them. With the introduction of our new packaging approach, we are particularly attentive to all segments, especially following upgrades to our plant, with a strong emphasis on the high end. This focus will certainly influence our commitment to sustained ARPU growth. However, when mobile is added to our packages in a straightforward manner, it may affect ARPU. Nonetheless, we believe the benefits are substantial and that, for competitive reasons, this is the right long-term strategy. We remain deeply focused on all factors that can enhance ARPU.
And I think along those lines, we've been very clear as it relates to North Star for us is how you continue to grow broadband revenue at a healthy clip. And ultimately, how do you grow convergence revenue at an even better clip, right? So in the past year, we grew broadband revenue at 3%. We grew convergence revenue at 5%. Interesting, if you stack us up versus peers and competitors, we realize there's a lot of focus on broadband sub-trajectory. But if you step back, we are at or near industry-leading levels for convergence revenue growth. So the focus here is continue that, find the levers we have to go push into that. It's not to say we can't have a strong broadband ARPU growth. We gave an outlook that broadband ARPU growth will continue to be healthy. But as we look at the levers we have to go drive wireless growth, to drive continued broadband growth, to compete aggressively in the markets and really deliver on everything Dave said he's coming to market with, in particular, in the second quarter, we got a lot of levers, and we have a clear North Star around what we're growing.
One other thing that in terms of revenue, Jason hit it perfectly. But I would offer Business Services revenue is a tremendous opportunity, has been, will be, where overall, we're a leader when you compare Business Services growth in terms of our peers and our competitors. It's a $10 billion revenue, great margins, and we have consistently contributed revenue and EBITDA growth. So going right to Jason's point in terms of our focus on overall revenue, Business Services is an enormously important part of what we do.
Thank you for the question about Peacock, Steven. We're excited about the NBA; it represents a significant opportunity for us and will likely be a key driver of subscriber growth in 2025. This year, we expect to see improvements in Peacock's revenues and losses. As we integrate the NBA in the second half of the year, we will manage the increased costs through various strategies, including price adjustments, shifting ad sales to the higher-value content that the NBA offers, and repositioning some of the programming that the NBA will replace. We anticipate that it will take the entirety of the first NBA season and into the second season before we fully stabilize our business to accommodate the higher expenses. Thank you all for your time this morning, and Happy New Year.
Thanks.
Thank you all.
Thank you.
That concludes today's call. A replay of the call will be available starting at 11:30 a.m. Eastern Time today on Comcast Investor Relations website. Thank you for participating. You may all disconnect.