Comcast’s total revenue jumped 20.4% in Q2 — up to $28.55 billion — and NBCU’s Peacock streaming service is a big reason why the conglomerate exceeded analysts’ expectations.

Peacock has 54 million signups as of this week, with more than 20 million active monthly users. 

CEO Brian Roberts said the Tokyo Olympics, which were a hot topic on Thursday’s earnings call, are an important incentive for Peacock subscribers.

• NBCU said it will turn a profit despite “bad luck” amid the global pandemic and vowed to spend more money on sports to improve their product for the Winter Olympics. 
• The Olympics aren’t Peacock’s only vital sports content. In January, the service struck a five-year deal with WWE worth more than $1 billion, adding over 1.2 million subscribers from the WWE Network.

Roberts said that the company is including Peacock at no additional cost for its 20 million Sky customers across Europe later this year. 

Sky TV showed a 28% revenue increase, posting $5.2 billion in the second quarter. Though the revenue increase is a positive sign, the network’s adjusted EBITDA margins fell 25.3% to $560 million.

As of July 15, NBCU had sold 85% of its in-game advertising inventory for Super Bowl LVI, the largest round of sports upfront negotiations in company history. It increased the asking price for ads up to as much as $6 million per 30-second spot.

DraftKings helped drive sports betting from physical locations to mobile devices, but now it’s creating its own live betting experience.

The company is teaming up with sports bar chain Sports & Social to create co-branded dining establishments with a sports betting focus.

The first two locations will be in Nashville and Detroit, pending respective regulatory approval in Tennessee and Michigan. The Nashville location will not have any betting kiosks or windows: Tennessee only permits sports betting on mobile devices. 

The Detroit venue won’t directly facilitate sports betting either, but will have screens throughout showing odds, scores, and games.

• DraftKings is active in 14 states. Sports betting is legal in 32 states and established in some capacity in 22.
• The company’s revenue vaulted to $312 million in Q1, up 253% year-over-year.
• Sports & Social is owned by the Cordish Companies, a private company that operates commercial and residential property including restaurants, gaming establishments, and developments in sports venue districts.  

The companies indicated that more cities would be announced soon. Sports & Social has locations neighboring Busch Stadium in St. Louis and Truist Park in Atlanta. 

Editor’s note: DraftKings is an FOS partner.

Gray Television’s $925 million acquisition of Quincy Media was approved by the Department of Justice on Wednesday. 

The deal gets regulatory approval under the condition that Gray divests 10 broadcast TV stations in seven local markets. Quincy mostly operates in the Midwest.

The acquisition is Gray’s latest move to tap into new markets. 

• Last month, it formed Gray Sports + Entertainment Sales to represent the company’s internal content production portfolio.
• Gray acquired Raycom for $3.6 billion in 201, adding 142 television stations across 92 markets.
• Gray plans to acquire Meredith Corporation for $2.83 billion in total enterprise value. Meredith recently sold Sports Illustrated to Authentic Brands Group for $110 million.

Gray’s deal for Quincy was first announced in February. Per FCC guidelines, no entity can reach more than 39% of all U.S. households; Quincy owned stations in 102 markets, reaching over 25% of U.S. TV households. 

There could be more stipulations. Earlier this month, the FCC proposed a $518.28 million fine against the company, saying Gray violated rules by owning two full power stations in the same designated market area that were rated among the top four in the market. 

The DOJ and FCC will go through similar talks soon regarding the WarnerMedia and Discovery merger.