Playoffs set for Peacock

The NFL is taking another big step into streaming by putting one of its playoff games exclusively on a digital platform for the first time. The league and NBCUniversal announced Monday that the Saturday night game on wild card weekend will be on Peacock. The Peacock exclusive game on Jan. 13 would start at 7:15 or 7:30 p.m. Central. The game will be broadcast on NBC stations in the markets of the two teams. It will also be available on mobile devices through the NFL+ package. It will be preceded by a late afternoon playoff game on NBC and Peacock that will kick off at 3:30 p.m. Central. Subscription rates for Peacock start at $4.99 per month. “We had our first season with Amazon [last year] and I think that with the digital platforms, we’re ready for live sports at scale. And the next step is to step into the postseason,” said Hans Schroeder, NFL executive vice president and chief operating officer of NFL Media. “We like the plan that Peacock and NBC put together. In this case knowing we’re going to have a bigger audience and focused on having the widest reach possible across each platform.” The league has made forays into streaming games for nearly a decade, but has gone all in over the past couple seasons. Amazon Prime Video became the exclusive home of “Thursday Night Football” last season while ESPN has had one international game per season on ESPN+ since 2021. Under the NFL’s 11-year contract with NBCUniversal that began this season, Peacock has an exclusive regular-season game. That will be on Dec. 23 when the Buffalo Bills face the Los Angeles Chargers in prime time. The Cincinnati Bengals vs. Pittsburgh Steelers matchup on NBC will precede that.