July 23 (Reuters) - Comcast ( CMCSA ) beat estimates for

quarterly profit on Tuesday as strong growth in its Peacock

streaming service and a smaller-than-expected loss in broadband

customers helped overcome weakness in its studio and theme parks

business.

The U.S. media and telecom company reported it lost 120,000

broadband customers, compared with estimates for a loss of

143,000, according to FactSet, suggesting that it was holding

its own against intense competition from AT&T and T-Mobile

.

Its Peacock streaming service posted a 27.5% rise in

revenue to $1.05 billion, driven by a 38% surge in paid

subscribers to a total of 33 million.

The media conglomerate is focusing more on Peacock to offset

a hit from cord-cutting and is investing heavily in the service

to compete with the likes of Netflix ( NFLX ) and Disney+.

Licensed content such as "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit"

and "Suits" on Peacock were among the top streamed shows in the

U.S. during the reported quarter, according to data from

Nielsen.

Excluding items it reported a profit of $1.21, beating

expectations of $1.12 per share, according to LSEG data.

Revenue from its studio business, however, fell 27% and was

a drag on its total revenue, which fell 2.7% to $29.69 billion

in the three months ended June. LSEG was estimating $30.02

billion.

The company had little to offer in the April-June quarter to

match the success of last year's "The Super Mario Bros. Movie"

and "Fast X" as most of its big-budget movies such as the fourth

installment in the hit animated franchise "Despicable Me" and

the disaster movie "Twisters" released in July,

Its theme park business posted a 10.6% fall in revenue as a

post-pandemic surge in visitors eased.

Comcast ( CMCSA ) is leaning on Epic Universe - a collection of

immersive worlds such as Super Nintendo World and How to Tran

Your Dragon-Isle of Berk - to bolster its parks business but the

launch has been pushed back to 2025 from this year.

(Reporting by Harshita Mary Varghese; Editing by Anil D'Silva)