As streaming services pile up with varying price points, Comcast's NBCUniversal is considering giving Peacock the most competitive price point of all: free! NBCUniversal first announced that a free, ad-supported streaming service was being planned for a 2020 launch in May 2019, but at the time it was believed that it would only be free to existing cable and Comcast broadband subscribers.
It's no surprise that traditional TV providers are now scrambling to launch their own streaming platforms. In summer 2018 we reported that cable TV has lost 3.4 million subscribers since 2012, while streaming entertainment titan Netflix now boasts 158.3 million subscribers worldwide. However, one of the advantages that streaming once had over cable TV packages was its lower price point, and with the number of platforms stacking up, cord-cutters may have to shell out considerable money in order to watch all the shows they love.
NBCUniversal, however, is planning to adopt a different approach. CNBC reports that the ad-supported version of Peacock may be the first free streaming service from a major U.S. media network, though the plan is still under consideration. Like Hulu (which has an ad-supported package and a more expensive ad-free option), there would be an ad-free version of Peacock available for those willing to pay, as well as additional benefits for existing Comcast customers.
Other new and upcoming streaming services have offered free deals - such as AppleTV+, which has one year of free membership bundled with the purchase of a new Apple device, and HBO Max, which will be free for a year to existing AT&T customers. However, if this plan goes ahead then Peacock will be unique in having a membership plan that's entirely ad-supported, with no pre-existing memberships or purchases required. Peacock will include 15,000 hours of content at launch, including back episodes of shows like The Office and Parks and Recreation, and new originals.
Having a free ad-supported version of Peacock could be a great way to build up membership in the streaming service's early days, and to give customers a chance to sample NBCUniversal's library before deciding to commit to a paid, ad-free model. The risk, of course, is that too many subscribers will choose to stick to the free version instead of paying (a problem that YouTube's premium services have faced). Ads might be enough to support the streaming of archived content, but they may not provide enough revenue to cover the cost of creating new originals - which will be a big deciding factor in the streaming wars.
Source: CNBC