NBC starts streaming with TV-style platform: Peacock
NBCUniversal’s streaming platform, Peacock, looks a whole lot like broadcast TV.
The free version comes with commercials and plenty of vintage hits like “The King of Queens” and “Everybody Loves Raymond.” And it offers something viewers might have missed while they were logged onto other streamers: the ability to channelsurf.
The service said it has brought back the analogera pastime by grouping its programming into distinct feeds, with one dedicated to NBC’s late-night hosts and another for the network’s morning franchise, “Today,” among others.
Peacock, which becomes widely available Wednesday, is also trying to distinguish itself from Netflix, Disney Plus, HBO Max and other competitors by betting that viewers want a free or low-cost streaming option during the coronavirus pandemic.
“People are looking for more affordable options,” said Matt Strauss, chairman of Peacock and NBCUniversal
Digital Enterprises.
In April, Comcast offered a sneak peek of the streaming service to its 15 million subscribers who use either its cable offering XFinityX1 or the cord-cutting model Flex. Executives said people stuck at home because of virus restrictions were feasting on old shows — “comfort food TV,” as Strauss put it.
Strauss, who was the executive vice president of Comcast’s Xfinity Services before taking the helm of Peacock in October, said the three-month testing period had proved that streaming viewers were just as happy to flip through options before settling on a show, just as they did in the traditional TV era.
That finding prompted the company to build 20 channels within Peacock. In addition to the late-night and “Today” feeds, it will have one dedicated to “Saturday Night Live” and others for news and sports. The company said it will expand the offering to 40 channels within the platform in the coming months, on its way to 70 by year’s end.
Peacock is vital to Comcast, NBCUniversal’s parent company, a late arrival to streaming. The company has designed the service so that it generates the bulk of its revenue from advertising, rather than subscriptions.
The ad-supported versions offer more than 10,000 hours of content, with no more than five minutes of commercials for each hour of programming. The platform also comes in two other versions: Peacock Premium, with ads and more than 20,000 hours of content, at $5 a month (or free for Comcast and Cox cable subscribers), and a second iteration of Peacock Premium, with no commercials, at $10 a month. The basic Netflix plan costs $9 a month. Hulu offers a lowcost option, with ads, for $6 a month.
Despite its back-to-thefuture feel, Peacock will offer original programming, with nine series to be unveiled Wednesday, including “Brave New World,” an adaptation of Aldous Huxley’s 1932 science fiction classic starring Alden Ehrenreich and Demi Moore, and “Intelligence,” a comedy with “Friends” alumnus David Schwimmer.