NBCUniversal Aims to Launch Its Video Streaming Service Peacock Nationwide by July 15

UTC by Bhushan Akolkar · 3 min read
NBCUniversal Aims to Launch Its Video Streaming Service Peacock Nationwide by July 15
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NBCUniversal says that it plans to make the best use of the quarantine period by launching its Peacock streaming service. As a result, NBCUniversal is now gearing up to prepare the launch and tap more customers at the right time.

With a majority of the cities across the globe opting for a lockdown amidst the widespread coronavirus cases, media streaming services are having a gala time as the overall content consumption surges. Comcast’s NBCUniversal is now evaluating a nationwide launch of its subscription video service Peacock.

Matt Strauss, Peacock’s chairman, said that he senses a good opportunity considering the nationwide lockdown all across the U.S. “We feel even more strongly we need to bring Peacock as quickly to market as possible,” he added.

Previously, NBCUniversal was planning to release Peacokc’s free and paid subscription across the U.S. by July 15. However, Strauss is now contemplating moving the launch date up to make the most of this quarantine period. Starting Wednesday, April 15, Comcast’s Xfinity subscribers can access the preview of Peacock. The Peacock’s streaming service will be available at no additional charge for all Pay TV and broadband customers.

Besides, the Comcast customers get full access to Peacock’s entire library of shows. However, the Peacock smart TV application or mobile application won’t be available before the nationwide launch. This could be the previously scheduled date of July 15 or anytime sooner, said Strauss.

NBCUniversal Wants to Make Some Originals Available with Peacock

Just like every media streaming service provider has a pack of some ‘original shows’ exclusive to the platform, Peacock will too have some. Strauss said: “There will be originals that we make available in 2020”. However, he clarified that is applicable to shows that have already completed shooting. Currently, during the quarantine, Hollywood operations are shut down.

The Peacock subscription will come in two segments – free version and paid version. Besides, the paid version will also have an ad-free tier. The Peacock Free will be more than 7500+ hours of video content. This will also include the next-day access to the existing seasons of the first-year NBC shows.

The Peacock Premium will be available for $4.99 per month and $7.99 for the ad-free version. Peacock Premium will have over 15,000 hours of current and classic TV shows. This includes some popular ones like Jimmy Fallon’s “The Tonight Show” and “Late Night with Seth Meyers.”

Now, due to the COVID-19 outbreak, Peacock will need to alter its marketing plans from the previously planned. Earlier, NBCUniversal had planned a huge marketing push for Peacock alongside the 2020 Olympics. However, Japan who was hosting the Tokyo 2020 Olympics has now moved it to next year in 2021.

As a result, NBCUniversal had to revise its marketing plan. The company will be sharing specifics of the plan later ahead.

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