NBC launched its new broadcast service Peacock on July 15 in the busy field of television broadcast services. Peacock has a completely free tier with access to most content, with ads; Or you can pay $ 5 per month for full catalog access, with ads, or $ 10 per month without ads. The app is not available on Roku or Amazon Fire TV at launch; HBO Max was also unable to accept those two services.
When Peacock was first announced, there was some moaning here and there on social media, another streaming service to pay for? In the last nine months alone, we’ve seen the launch of Apple TV +, Disney +, Quibi, HBO Max, and now Peacock.
But NBC has enough successful shows in its library, old and new, to make Peacock a must-have for many people, including “Cheers”, “Frasier”, “30 Rock”, “Parks and Recreation”, “Friday Night Lights “,” Parenthood “,” SNL “and the” Law & Order “franchise.
“They have proven to be very effective in building brands,” says Greg Portell, consumer analyst at Kearney. “Whether they’re talking about a ‘Law and Order,’ ‘Friends,’ or Peacock, they have the talent to make this really work, and they’re in the game for the long haul due to Comcast’s financial backing. Therefore, it would be difficult to bet against Peacock as a long-term player in space. “
It’s a huge plus for Peacock, and will likely fuel downloads, as much of the content is available for free, if viewers are willing to read the ads.
Two major NBC shows are missing from Peacock: “Friends” will not come to Peacock, after WarnerMedia paid $ 425 million to put the show on HBO Max; and “The Office” will not arrive in Peacock until January, but meanwhile Peacock has an “Office Shorts” channel showing clips of “The Office” 24/7.
Those are all known major NBC shows, not to mention non-NBC shows in Peacock, like “Downton Abbey” (NBCUniversal owns Carnival, the British studio behind the show) and “Yellowstone” (Comcast closed a deal license with Viacom for the Paramount show). Then there are a host of new original shows and movies that are part of the premium tier, including “Brave New World” and reboots of “Battlestar Galactica” and “Saved By The Bell.”
“Peacock Investor Day” at 30 Rockefeller Center in New York, NY, on January 16, 2020 – Photo: Bonnie Hammer, President, NBCUniversal Content Studios (Photo: Peter Kramer / Peacock / NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)
Of course, filming of much of the planned new original content has been delayed due to the pandemic. Peacock had “an ambitious content show that was going to try to create a lot of that kind of” must-see “display, unique and exclusive to Peacock,” says Portell, and COVID-19 got in the way.
The biggest pandemic blow to Peacock was the delay of the Tokyo Olympics a full year. Originally, coverage of the live Olympics was established as the hub of the store that sets Peacock apart. Once the Olympics were delayed, some wondered if Peacock should delay its launch.
Portell says Peacock could not afford to do that. “At this point, the market is a mature market, and waiting a year to come out would have been a disadvantage. Covid’s advantage to Peacock is that because sports are lagging, it gives them a slightly lower expectation when leaving the door, so they can get some of their subscriber acquisition strategies, some of their pricing strategies and packages, tested and tested before they really have to splatter with the Olympics. “
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