Peacock

Peacock is an American over-the-top video streaming service owned and operated by the Television and Streaming division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Named after the NBC logo, the service launched on July 15, 2020. The service primarily features series and film content from NBCUniversal studios and other third-party content providers, including television series, films, news, and sports programming. The service is available in a free ad-supported version with limited content, while premium tiers include a larger content library and access to additional NBC Sports, Hallmark Channel, and WWE content.

As of December 2022, the service has reached 20 million paid subscribers.

History
On January 14, 2019, NBCUniversal announced plans to launch an over-the-top streaming service in 2020, which would feature original and library content, and be available in free advertising-supported and paid ad-free versions. The service would be led by chairman Bonnie Hammer, under the division NBCUniversal Direct-to-Consumer and Digital Enterprises.

On September 17, 2019, it was announced that the service would be named "Peacock", as an allusion to the NBC logo. The service announced further details on its initial slate of original programming, including sci-fi series Brave New World (moved from USA Network's slate), limited series Angelyne, crime drama Dr. Death, comedy Rutherford Falls, teen drama One Of Us Is Lying, talk show The Amber Ruffin Show, and reboots and continuations of Battlestar Galactica, Punky Brewster, and Saved by the Bell. It was also announced that library rights to the NBC sitcoms The Office and Parks and Recreation would move exclusively to Peacock in October 2020 and January 2021 respectively.

Peacock soft launched for Comcast Xfinity cable subscribers beginning on April 15, 2020, beginning with X1 and Xfinity Flex customers. The service then launched nationally on July 15 of the same year.

As of August 2021, the service had reached at least 54 million signups. In April 2022, the service reached 28 million monthly active accounts and 13 million paid subscribers, an increase of 40% from the previous quarter. It also reported a 25% increase in engagement year-over-year. In September 2022, the service had 30 million monthly active accounts and 15 million paid subscribers, a 70% increase in paid subscribers since the start of 2022. As of December 2022, the service has reached 20 million paid subscribers, with its coverage of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Spanish having been credited with an increase in the fourth quarter of 2022.

Distribution
Peacock has three tiers of service: Free, Premium, and Premium Plus. The Premium tier is a subscription-based service which includes Peacock's full library of content, while the Free tier contains a subset of its content. The Free and Premium tiers are advertising-supported, with commercials limited to five minutes per hour. Peacock Premium is included in some services from television service providers, such as Cox which ended January 15, 2023 and Xfinity. Subscribers to Peacock Premium, whether subscribing directly or receiving service through a provider, can upgrade to the ad-free Premium Plus tier for an additional monthly cost. In January 2023, NBCUniversal discontinued the Free tier for new users: only subscription-based plans are available, with the Free plan only available to existing users, and those whose Premium subscription has lapsed.

On May 6, 2020, a distribution deal with Apple made Peacock available on iOS devices and Apple TV on-launch. Peacock content is also available within the Apple TV app, and the Premium service is available as an in-app subscription. On July 20, 2020, Peacock launched an app for PlayStation 4. On September 21 of that same year, Peacock became available on Roku. The company's September 18 agreement for the service narrowly averted a blackout of NBCUniversal's TV Everywhere apps on Roku devices, due to a dispute over revenue sharing and advertising inventory assignment. On June 8, 2021, Peacock launched an app for Samsung smart TVs. On June 24, 2021, Peacock launched an app for Amazon Fire TV and Amazon Fire tablets, such as Fire HD.