NBC’s Peacock Hopes To Reach Locked-Down Audience With Soft Launch

TOPLINEPeacock, the long-awaited streaming platform from NBCUniversal, will be available for some customers as early as Wednesday as the service hopes to jump on the increase in streaming views brought on by coronavirus shelter-in-place.

KEY FACTS

CRUCIAL QUOTE

“With the majority of the country at home, the demand for news and entertainment is truly at an all-time high. Many viewers are seeking out programming that is comforting, familiar and even nostalgic,” Matt Strauss, Peacock’s chairman, said Tuesday

KEY BACKGROUND

Streaming on platforms like Netflix
NFLX
have spiked since coronavirus quarantines began. According to one poll, Americans have doubled their streaming time, with the average American watching streamed content for eight hours a day. Peacock will join a swarm of new streaming services, including Apple
AAPL
TV+, Disney+ and Quibi. HBO Max is set to release in May and will feature the existing HBO lineup side-by-side with content from other WarnerMedia properties, like CNN and Cartoon Network. HBO Max will also produce original content and unlike HBO Go, users will not need a cable subscription.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR

A wider Peacock release. Set for a July 15 launch, it will include tiers of subscriptions, ranging from free to a $10 ad-free version.

INTERESTING FACT

The original July 15 release was meant to coincide with the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo in hopes of giving Peacock an Olympic-sized boost. However, the International Olympic Committee announced in March that the games would be postponed until 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic. Strauss said Tuesday that NBCUniversal may move the wider Peacock launch up to an earlier date.

FURTHER READING

NBCUniversal’s Peacock streaming service debuts amid coronavirus outbreak. Will it stand out? (The Los Angeles Times)

Comcast
CMCSA‘s Peacock to launch with limited original shows amid coronavirus (Reuters)

Peacock Streaming Lineup: What’s Coming to Comcast Now, and What’s Coming Later (Variety)

NBCU’s Best 5 Arguments Peacock Will Succeed (Amidst Netflix & Other Streaming Giants) (Forbes)

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