NBCU’s Peacock Will Have Tiered Price Structure, Launch Early For Comcast Subscribers

Peacock’s feathers will fly a little bit earlier for Comcast subscribers. NBCUniversal announced that its upcoming streaming service will launch on April 15 for Comcast Xfinity X1 and Flex subscribers. It will become available nationwide on July 15, a little more than a week before the start of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Peacock will also have two separate tiers of service, both of which will be free to Comcast and Cox’s 24 million subscribers. By the end of 2024, the company expects to have between 30-35 million subscribers. “This is a very exciting time for our company, as we chart the future of entertainment,” said Steve Burke, Chairman of NBCUniversal. “We have one of the most enviable collections of media brands and the strongest ad sales track record in the business. Capitalizing on these key strengths, we are taking a unique approach to streaming that brings value to customers, advertisers and shareholders.” The free option, called Peacock Free, will include next-day access to current seasons of freshman broadcast series on NBC, as well as library content and curated daily news and sports programming. As for Peacock originals, this option only includes “select” episodes as well as access to what Peacock is calling “streaming genre channels” like “SNL Vault,” “Family Movie Night” and “Olympic Profiles.” The second tier, called Peacock Premium, will available for no extra charge to Comcast and Cox subscribers. For everyone else, it will cost $4.99 a month for an ad-supported option, or $9.99 a month to have no ads. The Premium tier features everything on the Free option but includes all Peacock Originals, early access to late-night series like “Tonight Show” and “Late Night” and more sports including Premier League soccer. The company expects to bundle Peacock Premium with additional pay-TV partners in the coming months. Peacock will have live programming including news and sports, including same-day broadcasts of “NBC Nightly News” and “Meet the Press” and channels like NBC News Now, Sky News and the new international news channel NBC/Sky Global News. For sports, Peacock will have live coverage of the Opening and Closing ceremonies for the Olympics, and three daily shows. NBC Sports’ coverage of the Premier League and Ryder Cup will also be on Peacock, on a non-exclusive basis with NBC Sports Gold, the company’s sports-themed streaming service. “Peacock will provide consumers with a destination that goes beyond movies and television, aggregating a variety of content that fans want on one service,” said Matt Strauss, chairman of Peacock and NBCUniversal Digital Enterprises. “By delivering timely and topical content like breaking news, live sports, and watercooler moments from late-night, Peacock is uniquely bringing a pulse to the world of streaming that does not exist in today’s marketplace.” Peacock will launch with a select group of brand sponsors, which it expects to bring in hundreds of millions of initial advertising revenue. Peacock’s launch sponsors include State Farm, Target and Unilever. Earlier on Thursday, Peacock announced that it picked up its “Punky Brewster” revival to series, and put six projects, including a “MacGruber” revival, in development. NBCUniversal is formally unveiling the service Thursday afternoon during an investor day presentation at its 30 Rockafeller Center headquarters in New York.