Note: Sometimes a piece is so “current” and “timely” that it becomes stale. A lot of sites don’t remove this data, but some do. I’m almost never informed of this kind of thing, but I have to assume that this piece was stale within days of its release. So, I present it here. It was originally for soda.com.

NBCUniversal’s Peacock, set to launch in April 2020, is a new service which will provide both video-on-demand and live TV streaming. The service will offer new original series from producers of popular NBC shows such as The Good Place, Parks and Recreation, and Mr. Robot. According to an NBCUniversal press release, “the service will also feature blockbusters and critically-acclaimed films from Universal Pictures, Focus Features, DreamWorks Animation, Illumination and Hollywood’s biggest studios.”

Peacock at a glance

NBCUniversal will announce final pricing closer to release, but Peacock will reportedly be free for anyone, as well as available as a as a paid subscription that restricts ads. The service is set to launch with over 15,000 hours of content, with several exclusive original series, as well as a ton of classic movies, TV series and reality shows. Peacock will also broadcast live sports programming, including the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Peacock
Basic price	Free
Premium Price	$4.99/mo.
Ad-free price	$9.99/mo.
Content	15,000+ hours

NBCUniversal will offer Peacock’s premium service at no cost to Cox and Comcast customers. Premium service will come with some ads, but bundled customers and anyone paying for it can upgrade to an ad-free experience for $5/mo. more. The free version of the service will offer a more limited selection of content.

Peacock standout features

Movies

With over 15,000 hours of content already slated for the service, and most certainly more to come, the NBC streaming service will offer plenty to feast your eyes on. Much like its competitors, Peacock will feature a mix of old and new content.

This content will include hundreds of movies, including classics like Back To The Future, E.T., Field Of Dreams, Jaws, Jurassic Park and Meet The Parents, to name a scant few. More recent movies include Jurassic World 3, the Fast And Furious movies, Knocked Up, Meet The Parents, and all of the Jason Bourne franchise..

Don’t forget animated films such as Despicable Me, Kung Fu Panda, How To Train Your Dragon, Shark Tale, Shrek and The Boss Baby. In short, Peacock will offer something for everyone in the family.

TV

Peacock will offer plenty of TV. The service will include beloved shows like 30 Rock, The Office and Married With Children as well as newer fare like Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

Not only that, NBCUniversal plans to roll out several new original series for the platform, including reboots of Punky Brewster, Battlestar Galactica and Saved By The Bell as well as several brand new series.

Saturday Night Live will also be in the lineup, as well as a wide selection of unscripted shows, including an SNL docuseries called “Who Wrote That” which will explore famous personalities from the show’s history. Jimmy Fallon will debut a new talk show on the service as well, and there will be a spinoff of The Real Housewives franchise.

Not only that, for Spanish speaking viewers, Peacock will include over 3,000 hours of Telemundo’s Spanish language content, including two new original series (one by the producers of La Reina Del Sur) and popular older shows like 100 Dias Para Volver, Betty In NY and El Baron.

Sports

NBC will be home to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and Peacock will offer live coverage of these events. Opening and closing ceremonies will stream on Peacock before they air NBC, and the service will broadcast three Olympics programs per day. It will also include live coverage of major events as well as nightly wrap-ups.

Peacock will also offer over 2,000 hours of Premier League soccer, including hundreds of games that won’t be on regular TV. To boot, the service will broadcast Ryder Cup golf tourney in September of 2020.

Tiered subscriptions

Comcast (who owns NBCUniversal) is doing things a bit differently with Peacock. While Peacock will provide an ad-free paid subscription option of $9.99/mo., the service also offers a $4.99/mo. premium plan which limits ads and an ad-supported free tier. The premium plan will be free to Cox and Comcast subscriber, and anyone can sign up for the free service.

This means you’ll be able to check out NBC shows in whatever device you want for free, albeit with a few ads, which you’d see on the network anyway.

Peacock drawbacks

Overall content

Peacock will probably never be a comprehensive source for all your entertainment needs. Although the service offers a lot of TV, they won’t be able to offer content from competitors like ABC and CBS. Also a lot of the movies on the platform are older, so you’ll probably need to go elsewhere for more cutting-edge flicks.

Ads on premium tier

Peacock’s premium plan will only cost $4.99/mo., but there will still be ads at that level. That means that even if you’re paying, you may not get to watch any of the big selection of movies uninterrupted unless you buy the add-free subscription. That said, at $10.99/mo. the ad-free plan is a decent deal.

Limited selection on ad-free version

According to NBCUniversal’s press release on Peacock, the ad-free tier of the service will have a more “curated” selection of content. To put it in simpler terms, Peacock will limit the shows and movies available to free viewers. 

The takeaway

Peacock may not offer everything you want a streaming service to, and its not clear how many people will really anti-up $10/mo. to lose the ads, but there will be some great stuff available, and some compelling new content to make Peacock worth adding to your rotation. With the addition of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics to the lineup, NBC’s new service is set to do well in the streaming marketplace.