The re-election of President Donald Trump has proven a ratings boom for news channels, but not everyone was able to keep that momentum going. In fact, new word from Comcast (CMCSA) says that it has slumped to second place in news, and Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) is down in third. Comcast shareholders did not take the news well, and shares were down fractionally in Monday afternoon’s trading.
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Basically, for those who are not Fox (FOXA), cable news ratings are a disaster. The Wall Street Journal offered up a report from Nielsen, which showed that both CNN and MSNBC took hits in their ratings after the 2024 election. In fact, both were down about half from their election peak. However, Fox managed to turn it around, building on its momentum to actually have higher ratings after the election than it did before.
As for why, Syracuse University Institute for Democracy, Journalism, and Citizenship research director Johanna Dunaway noted that a lot of heavily partisan viewers tend to “…turn away in disgust when it’s the other side having that postelection euphoria.” However, reports also suggest that there is hope for CNN and MSNBC should the “resistance viewing” phenomenon kick back in, in which partisan viewers tune back in to keep tabs on Trump.
A New EA Sports Connection
Meanwhile, Comcast is also working on branching out into video gaming. It is working on a new deal with Electronic Arts (EA) in connection with EA’s growing lineup of soccer titles like EA Sports FC 25. The new partnership between the two operations—even Peacock, Comcast’s streaming service, will have a hand in this—will feature some cosmetic upgrades for the latest release of EA Sports FC 25.
With the two working together, there will be “unique in-game vanity” for both Peacock and Xfinity in Ultimate Team. This is actually the first time that Peacock has worked with a video game producer in this way, noted a report from VentureBeat. It may represent the start of several more such deals to come. In fact, Comcast will also be a “featured partner” at the EA Sports FC New York Clubhouse event, including streaming booths for those playing the game at the event.
Is Comcast Stock a Good Buy Right Now?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on CMCSA stock based on 13 Buys and eight Holds assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 9% loss in its share price over the past year, the average CMCSA price target of $49.17 per share implies 24.77% upside potential.
