Anna Daniels
NBCUniversal revealed new information about its upcoming Peacock streaming service this afternoon, including details about pricing tiers, what kind of content will be featured, and how it plans to roll the service out. Read on to find out how this service compares with rivals like Disney+, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, and more.
Peacock Streaming Service Details
We’d previously heard that Peacock would be launching with 15,000 hours worth of content available to stream. But today, the company announced (via CNN) that there will be multiple tiers of the service – only some of which will have access to that full library of content.
The two tiers include “Peacock Free,” an ad-supported plan that’s available to anyone and will offer 7,500 hours of programming, including access to movies and classic TV shows. But if you want to see any of the service’s original content, including shows like MacGruber or Sam Esmail‘s new take on Battlestar Galactica, you’ll have to shell out for “Peacock Premium,” which gives access to the full 15,000 hours of programming – including sports and, for the first time ever, early access to NBC’s stable of late-night talk shows. New episodes of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon will be available to stream on Peacock Premium starting at 8pm ET and Late Night with Seth Meyers will begin streaming at 9pm ET (both are about three and a half hours before their traditional broadcast slots).
It sounds like every tier will give subscribers access to around 400 TV shows, including The Office (which is leaving Netflix at the end of this year), Parks and Recreation, 30 Rock, Bates Motel, Battlestar Galactica, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Cheers, Covert Affairs, Downton Abbey, Everybody Loves Raymond, Frasier, Friday Night Lights, House, Keeping Up With the Kardashians, King of Queens, Married…With Children, Monk, Parenthood, Psych, Royal Pains, Saturday Night Live, Superstore, The Real Housewives, Top Chef, Will & Grace. New episodes of NBC shows like This is Us will be viewable the day after they air.
Plus, there will be over 600 movies available, including the Fast & Furious films, Jason Bourne movies, Jurassic Park, Field of Dreams, The Big Lebowski, and more family-friendly content like E.T. the Extra Terrestrial, Shrek, and the Despicable Me movies.
Price Tiers, Launch Dates, and How Peacock Compares to Other Streaming Services
Price-wise, Peacock Premium will be free to Comcast and Cox subscribers, and it will cost $4.99 for everyone else. There’s also a tier of Peacock Premium which costs $9.99 and is ad-free.
Here’s an interesting note about the release dates: we’d previously heard that the service would be debuting this April, but it turns out that will only be true for Comcast X1 and Flex customers, who will have access to Peacock on April 15, 2020. Everyone else will have to wait a full three months until they can access it – all the way until July 15, 2020. (Those dates are for the domestic version of the service – I’m not sure yet about the details regarding an international rollout.)
So subscribers can pay $9.99 per month for an ad-free version of Peacock, which gives them access to 15,000 hours worth of stuff. Here’s how that stacks up against the service’s major rivals in the Streaming Wars.
Disney+
- Features approximately 7,000 television episodes and 500 films
- Costs $6.99 per month, but can be bundled with ESPN+ and an ad-supported version of Hulu for $12.99 per month
Hulu
- 68,000 hours of content
- Pricing: Basic ($5.99 per month), Premium ($11.99 per month), Basic + Live TV ($44.99 per month), and Premium + Live TV ($50.99 per month). Can also be bundled with Disney+ and ESPN+ ($12.99 per month)
HBO Max
- 10,000 hours of content
- A library content from Warner Bros., New Line, DC, CNN, TNT, TBS, truTV, Turner Classic Movies, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Crunchyroll, Rooster Teeth, Looney Tunes, and more
- Pricing $14.99 per month
- Existing AT&T HBO Customers and HBO Now Direct-Billed Subscribers to get HBO Max at no additional cost
- Launching in May 2020
AppleTV+
- Debuted last year with eight original series (seven scripted and one non-scripted) and one original documentary available at launch, with plans to launch new original content every month thereafter
- $4.99 a month
Amazon Prime Video
- As of last October, Amazon Prime Video was offering 18,405 movies and 1,981 TV shows
- $8.99 a month
Netflix
- As of last October, Netflix offered 5,579 titles (4,010 movies, 1,569 TV shows)
- Three price plans: Basic ($8.99 per month), Standard ($12.99 per month), and Premium ($15.99 per month)
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