After months of wandering, Moore will finally take flight on Roku devices – and NBC Universal’s TV apps won’t go dark on Roku after all.
Roku and NBCU reached a deal on Friday afternoon that will provide players of the streaming platform and .coccess of the Peacock streaming app on Roku-enabled TVs. In addition, the companies renewed their agreement to keep 46 NBCU broadcasts and cable applications on Roku, after the media company threatened to pull them out this week over a dispute over Peacock.
Under the companies’ extended agreement, NBC content will be added to the free, ad-supported Roku channel. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. But there’s money changing, with Roku being offered some sort of value in the form of NBCU: the platform company said it has a “meaningful partnership around advertising” deal.
Mor will be at the Roku Channel store in a few weeks, with technical integration work between the two companies pending.
Roku said in a statement, “We are pleased to have entered into an agreement with Comcast that will bring Roku customers to the forefront and maintain the accessibility of NBCU’s TV Everyday apps.” Looking forward to offering these new options to customers under a broad, mutually beneficial relationship between our companies, including adding NBC content to the Roku Channel and meaningful partnerships around advertising. “
NBCU praised Roku’s “incredible reach” in announcing the deal. “We are delighted that Roku recognizes the value in making NBC Universal’s incredible family of applications and programming available to all its users across the country,” an NBCU reporter said in an emailed statement. “More than 15 million people have signed up for Peer for K since its national opening in July and we’re thrilled that millions of people will now be able to access and enjoy Moore with other NBC Universal apps on their favorite Roku devices.”
Each party accused the other of making unreasonable demands: NBCU wanted the peacock to be distributed on Roku without leaving part of the advertising list on the service. Roku was insisting on getting some kind of compensation.
The peacock launched nationwide on July 15, but is not yet available on Roku as well as Amazon Fire TV. WarnerMedia’s HBO Max, Roku on Deal Disagreements and Fire TV are not available.
Such distribution barriers are likely to become more common as Roku and Amazon flex their large established bases. By the end of June, Roku had registered 43 million streaming accounts; Amazon says Fire TV has more than 4 million customers. Prior to Rokuna’s standoffs on Peacock and Vermermedia’s HBO Max, Fox’s TV app was pulled from the platform in January 2020, the highest profile case of similar controversy – before they made peace and the app returned at 11 a.m. Super Bowl.
Peacock is available in three levels: Premium Free (with ads) and Peacock Premium, which includes a large content selection, available with ads ($ 4.99 / month) and no ads ($ 9.99 / month). In addition, ComCom Max Xfinity X1 and Flex customers and Cox Contour subscribers have access to Peacock Premium with ads for no additional charge (or-5 / month ad-free tire).
