NBC’s (NBC) Peacock spent the first two years of its existence as a dark horse in the streaming wars.
At the end of last year, it had "54 million total subscribers with more than 20 million active accounts,” according to the Hollywood Reporter.
This put it well behind Netflix’s (NFLX) 214 million total subscribers and Disney+’s (DIS) 118 million total subscriptions.
But Comcast (CCZ) and NBCUniversal are well aware that the future of media is in streaming, and they’ve got plans for Peacock’s future (though broadcast television isn’t quite as dead as many people think).
NBCUniversal has begun making moves signaling that its serious about making Peacock an elite streaming service, and not just a place where you can watch old episodes of “Cheers.” (Which we all know holds up really well.)
Earlier this year, NBCUniversal announced plans to spend $5 billion on content for the service, and it’s also partnered with Lionsgate to get exclusive rights to likely blockbusters such as the highly anticipated “John Wick: Chapter 4” starring Keanu Reeves, and the Hunger Games prequel “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.”
It’s also recently begun playing hardball with Hulu and other streaming services by striking a deal for the exclusive next-day streaming rights to everything on the Bravo network, and this fall it will be the only streaming service to have NBC shows like “Saturday Night Live,” “The Voice,” and “Late Night With Seth Meyers” available the day after they air.
Both Bravo and some NBC content was previously available on Hulu the day after, but that won’t be the case starting this fall.
So NBC is making sure there’s going to be plenty to watch on Peacock, but it’s also come up with a surprising idea for how it’s going to monetize the streaming service.
And fair warning: you might not like what it’s come up with.
What Is Peacock’s Idea For Advertising?
Peacock currently has three different tiers. There’s a completely free tier that features advertising, and doesn’t have access to exclusive content such as “supersized” episodes of “The Office” or original material such as the sitcom “Girls5eva.”
There’s an advertising light version, called “Peacock Premium,” where there’s typically one ad at the beginning of a show or movie, and that costs $4.99. And there’s a completely free version called “Peacock Premium Plus” that costs $9.99 a month.
But NBCUniversal has announced plans to tinker with how viewers experience advertising on the service, according to Variety.
What it has in mind is shows surrounded by a frame sponsored by an advertiser. There are also plans to possibly introduce an interactive element where Peacock subscribers might be able to shop for whatever it is that’s being advertised.
It is unclear when this framing feature may be introduced, and if it will run for the entirety of an episode or just a few minutes. NBCUniversal has not responded to TheStreet’s request for comment as of the time of this writing.
Comcast/TheStreet
Streaming Services Are Starting to Embrace Advertising
When Netflix first began, it took a page out of the HBO’s long-running playbook. This wasn’t regular old TV, this was something more prestigious. You had to pay for it, but you didn’t have to deal with advertising, and you got a product that was better than broadcast television.
Well, now that the competition for streaming eyeballs is getting tighter than ever, streaming services are starting to embrace advertising, as both a way to open up a new revenue source, and to offer subscriptions to customers at a lower price point. Sometimes just shaving a few dollars off of something is enough to make people go “oh, why not?”
There was a time when the idea of advertising on HBO would be unthinkable, if not a betrayal of the brand’s 40+ year history. But the newly formed Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) is reportedly open to the idea, as a way to help grow its streaming service HBO Max and to make it more competitive with Netflix and Disney Plus.
Even Netflix, which lost 200,000 global subscribers in the first quarter of the year, is considering the idea of adding advertising, with Netflix COO Greg Peters calling it “an exciting opportunity” in a recent earnings call.
But so far, Peacock is the only service that wants to give you a TV show and an advertisement at the same time. But someone’s gotta pay for that “Joe vs Carole” miniseries, right?
