At a time when viewers are weighing the cost of adding another streaming service, NBCUniversal Parent Comcast’s Peacock arrives Wednesday with a hard-to-beat price: $ 0.00.
The new free service and a “premium” tier ($ 4.99 per month) that launches with almost 20,000 hours of programming, includes commercials, although you can avoid them by paying an additional $ 5.
Launching in a market that’s already packed with services that rely on paid subscriptions, including Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, and newcomers Disney +, Apple TV +, and HBO Max, doesn’t puzzle Peacock President Matt Strauss, who considers the Peacock’s price structure as an asset.
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“I think there is a growing sense of subscription fatigue, where you have all of these options, but you’re paying for all of them and they quickly add up,” he says. “We are trying to approach streaming in a different way, the combination of high-quality programming that is available at a very affordable price. There is nothing more affordable than free.”
The NBC connection offers sports and news, two genres not available on many streaming services. NBC News announced “TODAY All Day” on Monday, a new portal also available on TODAY.com. Current and past seasons of Telemundo’s shows are also included in Peacock.
The streaming service has not revealed whether all or part of “The Office,” which Peacock exclusively gets in January when his deal with Netflix ends, will be on the free or paid level. Another NBC fan favorite, “Parks and Recreation” will be on the free tier in October when Peacock gets exclusive streaming rights.
Peacock will also be the exclusive home to 1,000 episodes of the Dick Wolf “Law & Order” and “Chicago” franchises.
The Peacock launch was slated to launch in concert with NBC coverage of the now-postponed 2020 Summer Olympics, postponed until next year by the COVID-19 pandemic.
But a pandemic-related increase in transmission could partially offset the loss of that marketing opportunity, says Lisa Herdman, senior vice president of advertising firm RPA. She doesn’t think Peacock’s subsequent arrival at the broadcast club is a problem.
“Most broadcast channels of any type of pedigree have an opportunity right now. The (broadcast) audience has increased,” she says. Peacock “has a couple of things that are beneficial. It’s free and it has an (older) programming arsenal” at a time when many are homesick.
Peacock is not immune to the effects of the production shutdown that has affected all TV and movie production. Versions of “Battlestar Galactica”, “Saved by the Bell” and “Punky Brewster”, along with podcast-based “Dr. Death” featuring Jamie Dornan and Alec Baldwin, will not be available at launch.
Where can Peacock viewers get?
Since April, 15 million subscribers to Comcast’s Xfinity and Flex streaming and cable services have received premium access at no additional charge; Cox subscribers get the same deal starting Wednesday.
Strauss says from the beginning, seeing the family was a big draw. “What we found quite early was that a lot of people taking refuge in the place were really looking for comfort food television,” he says.
Like HBO Max, Peacock is not yet available on the two largest streaming platforms, Roku and Amazon Fire, but viewers will be able to access it on Apple devices, Microsoft Xbox devices, Google platforms and devices, and Vizio Smartcast smart TVs and LG. Other options include the Peacock app or peacocktv.com.
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So what do you get for free?
The free level will include more than half of the service’s programming hours. Since some are on Hulu, current NBC shows will be available just a day after the broadcast for premium subscribers; one week later for free and viewers can watch “30 Rock”, “Downton Abbey” and “Friday Night Lights”. Movie library includes classic favorites like “Jurassic Park” and “ET”
“Saturday Night Live”, “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” and “Late Night with Seth Meyers” will be available, with clip-based channels highlighting the best of Fallon, Meyers and the “SNL” vault.
Peacock relies heavily on TV and movie libraries from NBCUniversal properties, including NBC, USA, Syfy, E! and Universal Pictures and DreamWorks Animation. But it also extends to non-exclusive programming from other studios, including “Everybody Loves Raymond,” “Frasier,” “Cheers,” and “The Carol Burnett Show.”
“We don’t call ourselves NBC Plus. We call ourselves Peacock. That’s partly because we’ve always considered this bigger version of how we want to add content, much broader than just NBCUniversal,” says Strauss.
What additional programming will premium subscribers receive?
For $ 4.99, premium subscribers also receive such popular shows as “Two and a Half Men,” “House,” “Yellowstone.” along with “Shrek” and “The Bourne Identity”.
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Peacock finally plans to offer premium viewers the opportunity to watch Fallon and Meyers hours before their network slots, a move that has been delayed due to the effects of the pandemic on production.
At launch, most of the original series will be available exclusively at the premium level, though selected originals, such as “Psych 2: Lassie Come Home”, will be free.
New shows include:
• “Intelligence”, a comedy starring series creator Nick Mohammed and “Friends” alumnus David Schwimmer as a pair of mismatched investigators whose unlikely association could threaten the fight against cyber terrorism.
• “Brave New World”, an adaptation of Aldous Huxley’s classic novel, which imagines a utopian society where peace is guaranteed by prohibiting privacy, money, and history. Demi Moore, Harry Lloyd, Jessica Brown Findlay and Alden Ehrenreich star.
• “The Capture”, a conspiracy thriller that considers contemporary issues of fake news and all-seeing intelligence services. The cast includes Ron Perlman and Famke Janssen.
What is available in news and sports?
Peacock will feature featured daily newspapers from NBC News and Telemundo News, along with NBC News NOW and Sky News.
On the sporting side, premium subscribers will be able to watch over 175 Premier League football games during the 2020-21 season; “In Deep with Ryan Lochte” as the gold medal-winning swimmer seeks to return to the Olympics at age 35; and “Lost Speedways”, a look at the forgotten tracks organized by Dale Earnhardt Jr.
How about children’s television?
Peacock offers new and exclusive episodes of “Curious George”, entertaining and educational programs based on the classic character from the children’s book, and two animated series DreamWorks: “Where’s Waldo?” and “Cleopatra in space”.
The library includes “Woody Woodpecker”, “Top Chef Jr.”, “Sabrina: The Animated Series”, “Fievel’s American Tails”, “Care Bears”, “New Adventures of He-Man”, “Big Fun Crafty” and ” Baby Einstein Classics. “
