NBCUniversal unveils streaming service Peacock – it's good, but intentionally not *too* good
A bird of many colors... NBCUniversal (owned by Comcast) just unveiled details on the 271,366,768th player in the streaming wars, Peacock. Here's how much you'll pay/get with NBC's streaming option:
- Basic version: A free, ad-supported service with lots of shows, including live sports/news (and all seasons of The Office, which leaves Netflix in 2021)
- Premium version: Double the number of shows/movies as Basic (also ad-supported). But free for Comcast/Cox cable subscribers and $5/month if you're not. This one gets you the Olympics and late-night talk shows too (Basic doesn't).
- Extra premium: For an extra $5/month (for both cable subscribers and cord-cutters) the ads go away.
Catch 'em all... Peacock is a play to offer great streaming, but not so great that Comcast's cable customers cut the cord. Great-ish. Peacock's entering a crowded pool:
- Streaming Natives: They've been streaming since the start (Netflix, Quibi, YouTube TV).
- Cable Dinos: Traditional media companies that are transitioning to the streaming world (Comcast, Disney, AT&T, CBS).
- Perk Bait: These companies' core products have nothing to do with TV, but they offer streaming shows/movies as a perk to lure you into their main products/services (Amazon, Apple).
Trying to keep everyone happy... is like spending an hour at 3 different parties (on the same night). Streaming Natives like Netflix are 100% committed to streaming. Perk bait like Amazon Prime doesn't disrupt Amazon's core product. If NBC went all in on streaming, it would disrupt its main biz (Comcast's cable TV) by accelerating cord-cutting. Disney is willing to lose its cable TV biz by going all-in with Disney+ — Comcast wants it all (cable and streaming). We'll see if the strategy works.