NBCUniversal today revealed details about its streaming service, Peacock. Up to now, we’ve only had hints about this, the (please let it be) final entrant in the streaming wars and how it’ll differentiate itself from its competitors. The biggest difference in this case is that you could actually stream Peacock for free.
Timeless shows and movies. Exclusive originals. Plus timely news, sports and pop culture. Perch here for a sneak peek of it all and make sure you sign up for updates at https://t.co/OyAvToyNrX. We’re Free as a Bird! #PeacockTV pic.twitter.com/36nHvYQFa2
— Peacock (@peacockTV) January 16, 2020
Peacock will be a tiered service. You have Peacock Free (which sounds like the name of a romance novel heroine), which as the name suggests is a free option. The trade-off for being free is you have to put up with ads, but given how expensive all these services are turning out to be, I might actually be able to dig up the patience.
[Read: The battle between streaming platforms is getting nasty — here’s how much it’ll cost you]
The second option is Peacock Premium, which will be offered in a bundle to Comcast and Cox users. There are sort-of sub-tiers to Premium, as it’ll be offered to cable customers for no extra cost, and it’ll also be offered in a non-bundle option for $4.99. Customers also have the option to buy an ad-free version for $5 a month if they’re subscribed to one of NBCUniversal’s partners (the company plans to add more besides Cox and Comcast in the future), or $9.99 a month if they’re non-bundled. That’s insanely competitive considering what you’re getting.
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And what are you getting? Quite a lot, according to the site.
It’ll have the entirety of the Law & Order series, which is worth the price of admission to me right off the bat. Other TV offerings include House, Downton Abbey, Battlestar Galactica, The Office, Parks & Recreation, and Keeping Up with the Kardashians (along with a smattering of Bravo’s other reality shows). Peacock will also have vintage TV, like Murder She Wrote, Xena, and Leave It to Beaver.
It’ll also have movies and hold onto your butts, because these will include the entirety of the Fast & Furious series, including exclusive rights to stream the next one in the series. The service will also have quite a few original series.
Whew….that’s a lot! We’re gonna head home to roost. But you should fly over to https://t.co/7FEX8id3gV to find out more and sign up for updates. And don't forget to follow the bird right here, too. #PeacockTV pic.twitter.com/4f5b5rAkNG
— Peacock (@peacockTV) January 17, 2020
So now we have all the names out there: Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, HBO Max, Apple TV+, and now Peacock. I think that about covers all the major media companies, though we’ll still no doubt have smaller services. I’ll be curious to see how Peacock competes, given how it’s probably the only name out there where you can get almost all of the service for nothing.
If you want to learn more about Peacock and see what other shows will be available, you can visit the corporate site here.
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