Peacock is not on Roku and Amazon Fire TV, digging in a battle line

Peacock, Comcast’s NBCUniversal streaming service, launched on Wednesday through a range of the larger devices, but the two most popular are missing to stream to TVs: Roku and Amazon’s Fire TV. It’s a replay of the same showdown in May that pitted Roku and Amazon against AT&T’s HBO Max, marking a new stage in the evolution of video streaming, one that places people like you in the midst of a power battle.

The stream has become more popular than ever during the coronavirus pandemic, amplifying the long trend of people who watch more of his videos online. Now, the most powerful TV app distributors and pocket media companies are drawing their battle lines for control of the data and money generated by their streaming activity, as they try to secure positions of power for the next era of television.

In the meantime, it means you can’t see all the major streaming services on all the major devices.

Peacock said Tuesday that it is still in talks with additional partners.

“The Peacock app is ready to launch across platforms with the push of a switch,” said a Peacock spokeswoman. “We think it is important for consumers to know that Peacock is free to use and free for any platform that wants to distribute it. If Peacock is not available on a platform at launch, it is not because we have not made it available, and it is not because we did not We made it available for free. ”

“Consumers have purchased these devices with the expectation that they will be able to access all applications, so we expect all platforms to do the right thing for their users and take it,” he added.

Roku said he wants to lead Peacock to his “large avid streamer customer base.” But that it is “disappointing” Comcast “rejected reasonable and industry standard terms,” ​​Roku said in a statement, adding that Peacock was trying to launch an ad-supported service without sharing that ad model with a distributor like Roku.

“This shows a basic misunderstanding of what drives success in today’s modern broadcast world, where successful publishers collaborate on advertising and achieve strong results by leaning on the unique tools we offer,” Roku said in a statement.

Amazon declined to comment.

Roku and Amazon Fire TV products are the most common ways to stream on TVs in the US Together, the streaming companies and smart TVs from the two companies account for 70% of all streaming devices installed in the United States. United last year, and reach approximately 80 million active users among them.

But instead of serving as app-neutral platforms, Roku and Amazon have become firmer in their conversations with the new streaming services lately, and media companies are more interested in reaping the greatest possible reward from their products, which leads to impasses.

Peacock has support for other TV streaming devices such as Apple TV, Google Chromecast, Microsoft’s Xbox One and now Sony’s PlayStation 4.. The Peacock app is also confirmed for Vizio’s SmartCast and LG Smart TVs, and the service will also be available on mobile devices.

Competing with the likes of Netflix, Disney plus and HBO MaxPeacock is the last major new service to be launched in the so-called broadcast wars, when an avalanche of services spilled out from the tech and media giants over a period of about seven months. In Peacock’s case, it means that even a traditional cable and television company like Comcast is betting that the tide of cutting the cable won’t change.

These battles will shape the destiny of companies vying to govern the future of television, but they will also affect the amount of services you must use and pay to watch your favorite television and movies. And clashes facing distribution companies like Roku and Amazon against streaming services like Comcast’s Peacock and AT&T’s HBO Max may affect viewers in hopes of watching on some of their favorite devices.

Peacock Released on Wednesday in the US with an always free tier that allows you to try out about two-thirds of your library with advertising, as well as higher tiers that unlock the entire catalog. Peacock Premium costs $ 5 a month, or $ 50 a year with advertising, or you can upgrade to an ad-free version for $ 10 a month or $ 100 a year.