History of Peacock
On January 14, 2019, NBCUniversal created NBCUniversal Direct-to-Consumer and Digital Enterprises under chairman Bonnie Hammer. This included the launch of an over-the-top streaming service, named "Peacock" and made available in April 2020. This move also included new original programming, NBCU property reboots, while NBC series The Office and Parks and Recreation were taken off rival streaming services Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video and joined the service once their exclusive streaming rights to rival streaming services expire, with Parks and Recreation joining in October 2020 and The Office joining in January 2021. Peacock soft launched for Xfinity cable and broadband customers on April 15, 2020, before launching nationally on July 15, 2020. By January 28, 2021, Peacock had amassed a total of 33 million subscribers. The exact total of paying subscribers remains unknown. On April 29, Peacock reached a subscriber count of 42 million. The service is drawn primarily from the NBCUniversal library, including subsidiaries such as Universal Pictures and Universal Television. It is suggested to include at least 15,000 hours of content on-launch without a subscription, and an additional 5,000 hours of content for Premium subscribers. Current episodes of NBC series will become available on Peacock the day after their premiere for Premium subscribers; non-subscribers will receive them on a week's delay. Peacock also offers a lineup of around 25 curated digital linear channels, including long-form and digital-originated programming content from NBCUniversal's broadcast and cable properties (such as Today All Day, a digital extension of NBC's morning show Today), as well as third-party content providers. They are designed to emulate a traditional broadcast programming experience (similar to services such as Pluto TV and Xumo, the latter of which was purchased by NBCUniversal parent Comcast in February 2020). On January 26, 2020, NBC announced plans to stream The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Late Night with Seth Meyers at 8:00 and 9:00 p.m. ET, respectively, ahead of their television premieres on NBC. The decision, however, was criticized by many of NBC's affiliate groups out of concern that the "pre-airs" of both late-night talk shows on Peacock would cannibalize viewership for the shows on local NBC stations.
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About Peacock
Peacock is the on-demand streaming home for NBCUniversal movies and shows, making it the only place to stream hit series like "The Office." Free and premium versions of Peacock launched in July 2020. The ad-supported Peacock Premium plan costs $5 a month, while the ad-free Peacock Premium Plus plan costs $10 a month. The service offers a rotating library full of Universal movies and timed exclusives, like the "Harry Potter" franchise. Multiple seasons of shows like "Downton Abbey" and "Modern Family" are included as well. Peacock is also developing several original series, and the current lineup includes shows like Tina Fey's "Girls5Eva"and a reboot of "Saved by the Bell." As live sporting events welcome fans back in 2021, Peacock will broadcast the Premier League and the Olympics. A recent deal with WWE Network has also given Peacock viewers access to pay-per-view wrestling events, classic matches, and WWE highlights. Comcast reports that 42 million viewers have signed up for Peacock since it launched. Below, we've broken down some of the basics, including full details on pricing, plans, content, and supported devices. Peacock is a streaming service created by NBCUniversal with three subscription plans: Free, Premium, and Premium Plus.
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