NBCU reveals Peacock price, launch date

NBCUniversal (NBCU) has confirmed the launch date, price point and further programming details of forthcoming streaming service Peacock.

Steve Burke

Announced in September, the service will launch in the US on July 15, with three different versions available.

Peacock Premium will cost US$9.99 per month. It will include full-season Peacock originals and tent-pole series, next-day access to current seasons of returning broadcast series, early access to late-night talkshows, and sports – such as the English Premier League – totalling more than 15,000 hours of content.

Lacking some of the original commissions that come with the premium edition, an ad-supported free option will provide viewers with more than 7,500 hours of programming. This includes next-day access to current seasons of freshman broadcast series, classic series, movies, daily news and sports, Spanish-language content and select episodes of Peacock originals.

An ad-supported version of the premium offering will cost US$4.99 per month. Comcast, which owns NBCU, will offer this version to its existing subscribers, as well as Cox subscribers, at no extra cost, putting it in front of 24 million people.

The company said it expects to bundle Peacock Premium with additional partners in the coming months, anticipating 30-35 million active accounts by 2024.

Peacock will feature live coverage of the opening and closing ceremonies of this summer’s Tokyo Olympics before they air on NBC in primetime, and three daily shows, Tokyo Live, Tokyo Daily Digest and Tokyo Tonight during the event. Peacock will also live-stream more than 1,000 hours of exclusive coverage from the Tokyo Paralympics.

Steve Burke, chairman of NBCU, said: “We have one of the most enviable collections of media brands and the strongest ad sales track record in the business. Capitalising on these key strengths, we are taking a unique approach to streaming that brings value to customers, advertisers and shareholders.”

Among the titles available on Peacock will be major brands from Dick Wolf’s Wolf Entertainment, including the prolific producer’s Law & Order and Chicago franchises. It will also stream Paramount Network drama series Yellowstone, licensed from ViacomCBS.

As previously announced, Peacock will offer popular NBC shows and other classic TV series, including 30 Rock, Bates Motel, Battlestar Galactica, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Cheers, Downton Abbey, Everybody Loves Raymond, Frasier, Friday Night Lights, House, Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Married… With Children, The Office, Parks & Recreation, Saturday Night Live and Will & Grace.

Peacock has also signed a multi-year partnership with comedian and actor Kevin Hart’s Laugh Out Loud (LOL) network, which includes an equity investment in the company, a first-look deal with LOL and the rights to distribute LOL’s catalogue on the service.

As part of the agreement, LOL will produce a Kevin Hart stand-up comedy special, an original interview series called Hart to Heart, and a series of shortform content exclusively for Peacock.

Other newly announced originals include Tina Fey-produced series Girls5Eva, about a one-hit-wonder girl group from the 1990s that reunites to give their pop star dreams one more shot.

There will also be international series from NBCU International Studios, including drama thriller The Capture. Channel 4’s Lady Parts will also air on the service, as will three comedies from Sky Studios: Intelligence, starring David Schwimmer, Code 404 and Hitmen.

Previously announced Peacock scripted originals include comedies such as Rutherford Falls, Saved by the Bell, AP Bio, Punky Brewster and movie spin-off Psych 2: Lassie Come Home, as well as dramas Dr. Death, Battlestar Galactica, Brave New World, Angelyne and Armas de Mujer.

Peacock will also have the exclusive streaming rights to Universal films from this year and beyond in the network window. Films will include some of the biggest live-action features of all time, plus forthcoming titles Fast & Furious 9 and Jurassic World 3.

In addition, Peacock will have the first pay window for DreamWorks Animation films Trolls World Tour, The Boss Baby 2 and The Croods 2.

The service will be the exclusive streaming home of new episodes of Curious George, while new original series from DreamWorks Animation will also stream on Peacock, including TrollsTopia, Madagascar: A Little Wild, The Mighty Ones, Cleopatra in Space and Where’s Waldo?.

Additionally, popular family film titles from DreamWorks, Illumination Entertainment and Universal Kids will be available on Peacock, including Shrek, Shark Tale and Despicable Me.