Peacock TV

[Juan]

Can anyone say free?

NBC hopes 'free' makes Peacock stand out in streaming era NBC hopes 'free' makes Peacock stand out in streaming era

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[NashGuy]

I'm impressed by the fact that they plan to show only 5 minutes of ads per hour. That apparently applies to both the free tier and the $5 Premium tier that includes additional content. (You can also pay $10 to get an ad-free version of the Premium tier.) Also, if you have Comcast TV or broadband, or Cox TV, it looks like you can take $5 off the price of either Premium plan. So the Premium plan with ads is free and the ad-free Premium plan is only $5.

With such a light ad load, I doubt many folks spend the extra $5 to get it ad-free. If a half-hour sitcom has only two ad breaks, one 90 seconds and one 60 seconds, I'd be OK with that (at least if they don't play the same ad over and over).

 

[Juan]

Kinda sounds like hulu used to be

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[Zookster]

I don't care too much about current or catalog NBCU programming, and I already have a TV provider for the suite of NBCU channels. What I do care about is the Olympics, and this line from the linked article gives me pause:

NBCUniversal is making at least some of the Olympics available for free, but it didn’t immediately say how much.

So it sounds like at least some of the Summer Olympics coverage will get locked behind a paywall. The past two Olympics, you could get free live coverage with TV provider login credentials on the NBC Sports app of all the events with limited commercials. Or you could watch on a delayed basis on demand. I found it to be a much better way to watch the 2016 Summer and 2018 Winter Olympics than watching the prime time "packages" of coverage — bloated with commercials and filler featurettes. Often by the time the packages aired on the West Coast, the results would have been spoiled on various news broadcasts and ESPN anyway. With the NBC Sports app, I was able to watch the event live (or on a slight delay) in its entirety earlier in the day.

 

[Howard Simmons]

I'm impressed by the fact that they plan to show only 5 minutes of ads per hour. That apparently applies to both the free tier and the $5 Premium tier that includes additional content. (You can also pay $10 to get an ad-free version of the Premium tier.) Also, if you have Comcast TV or broadband, or Cox TV, it looks like you can take $5 off the price of either Premium plan. So the Premium plan with ads is free and the ad-free Premium plan is only $5.

With such a light ad load, I doubt many folks spend the extra $5 to get it ad-free. If a half-hour sitcom has only two ad breaks, one 90 seconds and one 60 seconds, I'd be OK with that (at least if they don't play the same ad over and over).

They do that now with the shows on their website. That's why I like to binge watch NBC. ABC is the worst with ads.IMO

 

[Bruce]

Reading very closely I noticed this-

It said that starting with the next Jurrasic World and Fast and Furious movies will be on Peacock only, that means Comcast/ Universal will not be signing a new deal with HBO.

Disney already has said they will not be signing a new deal with HBO and will be putting new movies from Fox on Hulu.

This means content will be more diluted for HBO since all movies they have will be from Warner's.

It also means is we are getting closer to every major studio having their own streaming service.

What it also means is more content is being pulled from Traditional Providers.


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[mwdxer1]

Any additional free content is good to me. CBS all access should offer the same deal.

 

[harshness]

With such a light ad load, I doubt many folks spend the extra $5 to get it ad-free. If a half-hour sitcom has only two ad breaks, one 90 seconds and one 60 seconds, I'd be OK with that (at least if they don't play the same ad over and over).

I think you've gone a little far out on a limb in your speculation in terms of both duration and frequency.

With so much of NBC's most popular content in excruciatingly heavy syndication (how many venues for Law & Order does there need to be?), I'm not sure the impetus is there.

 

[harshness]

Any additional free content is good to me.

Too often the free content subsets of pay sites isn't worth what you paid for it. If having access is all that matters to you (as opposed to actually watching the content), then it is a bonus.

I've found that my satisfaction level with free services (such as the Roku Channel) is inversely proportional to the number of ads rather than the duration of same. Getting a one or more five ad blocks in a show is maddening no matter how well targeted they are.

 

[harshness]

With so many Emmy awards going to networks other than the big four, I submit that setting themselves apart in this way may do more harm than good.

 

[buckeyebrian]

What does the premium give you? More shows and original programs like CBS All Access offers? Also, is there a waiting period for new/current shows on the free version, or will they be available the next day? I like CBS all access, but I find their library of vintage shows to be rather lacking. Some of the classic shows(JAG, Touched by an angel, etc) only offer select episodes instead of the entire series.

 

[NashGuy]

I think you've gone a little far out on a limb in your speculation in terms of both duration and frequency.

With so much of NBC's most popular content in excruciatingly heavy syndication (how many venues for Law & Order does there need to be?), I'm not sure the impetus is there.

I'm not speculating on the ad load. More than one credible media source covering yesterday's event reported that they said it will be only 5 minutes per hour. Here's one:

NBCU's Peacock unveils launch date and pricing tiers

The streaming service will also debut six new scripted shows.

www.axios.com

How they'll break those 5 minutes up, who knows. Two ad breaks in the course of a half-hour program is a hypothetical scenario that I raised. Who knows, maybe they'll do five ad breaks, each 30 seconds.

I'm not sure how much I'll watch Peacock. Most of the stuff they're offering (including Law & Order) doesn't interest me. But even if it's just something I turn to a couple times per week, that's fine if it doesn't cost anything to keep around. As far as the attraction it'll offer to the general public, well, there's a big difference in having popular content available on-demand for viewing whenever you want versus waiting for reruns of it on syndication.

Sounds like they want Peacock to be a big player in the future of free TV, essentially the streaming era successor of free OTA NBC.

 

[NashGuy]

What does the premium give you? More shows and original programs like CBS All Access offers? Also, is there a waiting period for new/current shows on the free version, or will they be available the next day? I like CBS all access, but I find their library of vintage shows to be rather lacking. Some of the classic shows(JAG, Touched by an angel, etc) only offer select episodes instead of the entire series.

The Premium version of Peacock will give you access to new originals that are exclusive to Peacock, as well as additional access to NBC content. With the free base-level Peacock subscription, I think you get next-day access only to new NBC series that are in their first season. With the Premium version, you get next-day access to all their current series. Also, the Premium gives you early access to that night's episodes of The Tonight Show with J. Fallon and The Late Show with S. Myers, starting at 8 PM eastern instead of 11:30.

As far as old library shows, I think that stuff will all be available in the free version.

 

[NashGuy]

Reading very closely I noticed this-

It said that starting with the next Jurrasic World and Fast and Furious movies will be on Peacock only, that means Comcast/ Universal will not be signing a new deal with HBO.

Disney already has said they will not be signing a new deal with HBO and will be putting new movies from Fox on Hulu.

This means content will be more diluted for HBO since all movies they have will be from Warner's.

It also means is we are getting closer to every major studio having their own streaming service.

What it also means is more content is being pulled from Traditional Providers.

What's your source for that? I read today that they're, for now anyway, keeping the Universal film output deal in place with HBO. This gives HBO a 3-month window to air/stream Universal movies after they debut on BD/DVD.

Until recently, after Universal films exited their 3-month window on HBO, they went to FX for the next 7 years. But I read today that that deal expired at the end of 2019. Starting with Universal films released this year, they'll all now go to Peacock, rather than FX, after they exit the HBO window.

Universal Ends Movie Output Deal With FX, Steering Films To Streaming Sibling Peacock

Universal Pictures has been one of the main suppliers of theatrical movies to FX Networks, which several years ago pulled away from off-network series, opting to spend the bulk of its acquisition budget on features instead. The two sides’ most recent deal ran through 2019 and is not getting...

deadline.com

I think HBO's deal with Universal covers all their films released through the end of next year, 2021.

HBO Extends Output Deal with Universal Through 2021

HBO will be able to broadcast Universal and Focus Features new releases into the next decade

www.thewrap.com

After that, who knows if NBCU will renew the deal or choose to make their films exclusive to Peacock. By that time, around 2022, is when NBCU will likely be yanking a lot of their TV stuff from Hulu and making it exclusive to Peacock.

As for 20th Century (formerly Fox) Pictures shifting their films from HBO to Hulu, yes, it's widely expected that they'll do that. Their current deal with HBO expires as the same time as Universal's.

Meanwhile, Lionsgate just switched their output partner. Their old deal with Epix is done. All Lionsgate films released in 2020 and 2021 will go to Hulu. After that, they say they'll switch to Starz. (Oddly, Lionsgate owns Starz. I would've thought they would have switched to Starz now. I question whether Starz will even still exist as its own service come 2022.)

I'm wondering how much longer before Paramount switches from Epix over to Showtime as their output partner now that Paramount and Showtime are part of the same company, ViacomCBS. Once that happens, poor Epix will only have new films from their parent, MGM. Not sure I see them surviving very long after that.

 

[Bruce]

What's your source for that? I read today that they're, for now anyway, keeping the Universal film output deal in place with HBO. This gives HBO a 3-month window to air/stream Universal movies after they debut on BD/DVD.

Until recently, after Universal films exited their 3-month window on HBO, they went to FX for the next 7 years. But I read today that that deal expired at the end of 2019. Starting with Universal films released this year, they'll all now go to Peacock, rather than FX, after they exit the HBO window.

Universal Ends Movie Output Deal With FX, Steering Films To Streaming Sibling Peacock

Universal Pictures has been one of the main suppliers of theatrical movies to FX Networks, which several years ago pulled away from off-network series, opting to spend the bulk of its acquisition budget on features instead. The two sides’ most recent deal ran through 2019 and is not getting...

deadline.com

I think HBO's deal with Universal covers all their films released through the end of next year, 2021.

HBO Extends Output Deal with Universal Through 2021

HBO will be able to broadcast Universal and Focus Features new releases into the next decade

www.thewrap.com

After that, who knows if NBCU will renew the deal or choose to make their films exclusive to Peacock. By that time, around 2022, is when NBCU will likely be yanking a lot of their TV stuff from Hulu and making it exclusive to Peacock.

As for 20th Century (formerly Fox) Pictures shifting their films from HBO to Hulu, yes, it's widely expected that they'll do that. Their current deal with HBO expires as the same time as Universal's..

Peacock will have the exclusive streaming rights for the 2020 Universal film slate and beyond. Titles will include Jurassic Park 3 and Fast & Furious 9.

Comcast Announces Pricing, Programming, & More for NBCU's Peacock Streaming Service | Cord Cutters News

Right now, NBCUniversal is holding an investor meeting to share details about the upcoming Peacock streaming service. The service will launch to Comcast’s Xfinity X1 and Flex Customers customers on April 15th and be nationwide on July 15th 2020. “This is a very exciting time for our company, as...

www.cordcuttersnews.com

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[NashGuy]

Peacock will have the exclusive streaming rights for the 2020 Universal film slate and beyond. Titles will include Jurassic Park 3 and Fast & Furious 9.

Comcast Announces Pricing, Programming, & More for NBCU's Peacock Streaming Service | Cord Cutters News

Right now, NBCUniversal is holding an investor meeting to share details about the upcoming Peacock streaming service. The service will launch to Comcast’s Xfinity X1 and Flex Customers customers on April 15th and be nationwide on July 15th 2020. “This is a very exciting time for our company, as...

www.cordcuttersnews.com

That site is known for being sloppy on the details they report. I think what they're referring to in that sentence you quoted is the new development where, starting with the 2020 Universal film slate, those movies will come to Peacock, rather than FX, after their 3-month "pay 1" window on HBO. If Universal had ended their output deal with HBO early (before the contract is supposed to end in a couple of years), it would be news.

 

[harshness]

That site is known for being sloppy on the details they report.

Many re-bloggers suffer this problem.

I'm betting it is based on a mis-read of the Deadline article that speaks to FX Network's contract ending.

 

[ncted]

NBC's New Peacock Streaming Service Is Just One Big Ad-Injection Machine | Digital Trends

NBCUniversal finally unveiled its streaming service, Peacock, a live call with investors on Thursday. The service will be offered in three tiers, most notably one that will completely free. But the biggest takeaway? This service is all about the ads.

www.digitaltrends.com

I doubt I will subscribe to this any time in the foreseeable future. I haven't seen any content mentioned that is compelling. Ads aren't content.

 

[harshness]

As I have Xfinity broadband that includes the Flex TV service (first box free) that, in turn, includes Peacock Premium, I may just give it a look. I wasn't really wanting another box but I have a free HDMI port or two.

 

[NashGuy]

As I have Xfinity broadband that includes the Flex TV service (first box free) that, in turn, includes Peacock Premium, I may just give it a look. I wasn't really wanting another box but I have a free HDMI port or two.

I have Xfinity broadband (but not TV). I haven't taken the free Flex box and don't really want to. I'm hoping I can access the free Peacock Premium service via an app for my Apple TV rather than having to use Flex. I'm sure there will be an Apple TV app and I'm sure they'll offer all three levels of service on their apps. It's just a matter of whether they tie their discounted plans for Xfinity customers to their own X1/Flex hardware.