For the past three years, one perk of being a Comcast Xfinity subscriber was a free subscription to Peacock, NBC's streaming service.
That ended Monday, when Comcast began a new policy — which it's been notifying customers about for months — of charging Xfinity subscribers to access Peacock's premium tier at a discounted rate of $2.99 a month.
Unfortunately, tech issues created headaches for some customers looking to take advantage of Peacock deals that Comcast is offering its subscribers.
Richard Lordi, a Comcast customer in New Jersey, said he spent more than five hours with Xfinity tech support trying to get his Peacock account linked. Under his plan, Lordi is entitled to two free years of Peacock, but he said Comcast hadn't resolved the issue by Tuesday morning.
"I have explained to them over the phone, Twitter support, as well as chat on their website. Keep getting the run around," Lordi said. "Their tech support has zero answers."
Comcast didn't immediately respond to questions about the tech issues.
Two Comcast customer service representatives told media reporter Matthew Keys Monday that unspecified bugs were preventing some customers from claiming their discounted Peacock subscription. Peacock's customer service account on Twitter was fielding numerous complaints Tuesday.
"I would advise Xfinity customers who have been trying to redeem free Peacock or subscribe to the discounted streaming plan to wait until later today before trying again," suggested Phillip Swann, who runs the TV Answer Man website. "It's clear this morning that Comcast wasn't ready for this transition, and still isn't ready."
A Comcast spokesperson did provide all the ways Xfinity customers can continue to get Peacock for free or for a discount. More details can be found on the Xfinity website.
—Xfinity internet customers with gigabit speed: Peacock Premium for free for two years
—Xfinity internet customers who are diamond or platinum reward members: Peacock Premium for free, must redeem reward here.
—NOW TV customers: Peacock Premium for free
—Other X1 or Flex customers: Peacock Premium for discounted rate of $2.99 for 12 months
Why is Peacock charging now?
All good things must come to an end, and that includes free streaming services.
Last year, former NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell — who left the company after an investigation into inappropriate conduct — said making Peacock available to Comcast customers for free helped the streaming service grow its user base. But the market has pivoted away from growth toward profitability, and all streaming services are looking for ways to improve their bottom lines.
In the first quarter of 2023, NBC reported Peacock had $704 million in losses, up from $456 million during the same period the previous year. The company previously warned that it expects Peacock's losses to hit around $3 billion this year.
"As we've said previously, we believe 2023 will be peak losses for Peacock and from there steadily improve," Comcast president Mike Cavanagh said during the company's fourth-quarter conference call in January.
On a positive note, NBC reported that the number of paid Peacock subscribers grew to 22 million in the first quarter of 2023, up more than 60% compared to the same period last year.
How much does Peacock cost?
Peacock has two plans — premium and premium plus — and the main difference is commercials.
The premium plan runs $4.99 a month, but includes commercials. The commercial-free premium plus plan costs $9.99 a month, though you'll still see ads on some programming, including live events and a few shows and movies.
Peacock once had a free plan — NBC once touted it as "Free as a Bird" — but stopped allowing new users to sign up for the no-cost tier in January.
