What is Peacock? A Look Inside the New Streaming Service

PHOTO SOURCE: NBCUniversal; Comcast

Another day, another streaming service. NBC Universal and its parent company Comcast have decided to enter the already flooded streaming market. It wasn’t too long ago that Apple as well jumped into the fray, you can check our coverage of that here. Peacock is the last of the legacy brands to make the move as other networks all have some form of streaming service but their approach is somewhat unique in that the service will act as a kind of optimized conglomerate of their main channels. Here’s what we know so far.

When Will It Be Released?

Peacock will have its general release on July 15. There was a preview/soft launch of the service in April for customers of Infinity Flex and X1 however that was mostly used to work out kinks in the system. No word yet on whether it will be available internationally.

Where Can We Watch It?

Peacock will be available on smart TV’s such as Vizio and LG as well as on Apple, Google and X-Box devices. Curiously, it won’t be available on Roku or Amazon Fire, the two biggest over the top TV device makers. NBC appears to be actively negotiating with the these two so expect more news on this to come soon.

How Much Does it Cost?

Base Version: free but with ads; though NBC Universal has confirmed that there will be no more than 5 minutes of ads per hour. According to the service this tier provides 7500 hours of content which includes classic TV shows and movies as well as some news and sports highlights.

Premium Version: $4.99 with ads or $9.99 without ads. This tier will have double the content as well as original programming, more sports coverage (and eventually live sports though not at launch), next day access to current seasons of returning shows, and early access to the Tonight Show and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and Seth Myers respectively.

What Will Their Library Look Like?

Peacock will be the new home for The Office. Unfortunately, the show won’t be available until January 2021 because it’s under contract to Netflix. Parks and Recreation will also be exclusive to Peacock but not until October 2020 once its contracts with Netflix, Hulu and Prime finish.

Other classic and more recent TV shows that will be streamed on the service will include:

In addition, the Peacock will be the home to over 3,000 hours of content from NBCUniversal’s Spanish language cable TV network, Telemundo, including shows like 100 Dias Para Volver, Betty in NY, El Barón and Preso No. 1.

At launch Peacock will provide the following original  TV programs

• Brave New World – A series based on the classic sci-fi novel from Aldous Huxley, and starring Alden Ehrenreich and Demi Moore.
• Intelligence – A UK comedy import starring Friends’ David Schwimmer as an NSA agent who is the US liaison to the UK cyber crimes unit.
• The Capture – This is another UK import. It’s a crime drama about a soldier who gets accused of a murder
• Psych 2: Lassic Come Home – This is the second TV movie based on the classic comedy-mystery series about a man who pretends to be a psychic to help solve crimes.
• Curious George – An animated series based on the classic children’s books about a curious monkey named George.
• Where’s Waldo – Another animated series, once again based on classic children’s books about finding a man named Waldo.
• Cleopatra in Space – An animated series about the previously untold teenage stories of the great Egyptian leader Cleopatra.
• In Deep With Ryan Lochte – A reality series about the former US Olympic swimmer who is trying to get back on the Olympic team.
• Lost Speedways With Dale Earnhardt Jr. – The former NASCAR racer is the host of this series that looks at forgotten and abandoned speedways.

There will also be reboots of popular classic shows like Battlestar Galactica, Saved By the Bell and Punky Brewster.

NBC is the official US carrier of the Olympics and Peacock’s launch was meant to coincide with the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo with live coverage but the coronavirus pandemic has led to the postponement of the Summer Games until next year. Instead, Peacock will offer past Olympic highlights and exclusive interviews with Olympic athletes. NBC is also the main carrier of the Premier League and the platform will eventually carry live matches including ones not able to make it on regular TV.

So there you have it, will this be enough to get you on board? Let us know in the comments!