Peacock, the streaming platform that’s most followed with the phrase “uh, yeah, I think I have that one,” is actually pretty good these days. Outside of the obvious benefits for pro-wrestling fans, they also have new movies like She Said and Tár and original shows in Paul T. Goldman and Poker Face. Unfortunately, because they’re on Peacock, no one’s going to see them. Now, no one’s going to see them more than ever.
Per The Streamable (via The Verge), as of January 30, NBC Universal is killing Peacock’s free tier for new users, which gave people curious about Bel Air a chance to check it out before paying. This, of course, was all part of NBC Universal’s initial marketing pitch. “Free as a bird,” they told us. “Easy access to superfan cuts of The Office,” they said. “You’d have to watch ads,” they warned.
Well, if you want to watch Columbo with ads for free, you’re going to have to do it over at Amazon Freevee because the privilege of watching old television with paid advertising will now cost you $4.99 a month.
Streamable writes:
According to an NBCU source, who confirmed the change, said this decision was the result of a shift in focus to the Premium offering, which the company feels is more reflective of the unique offering available to subscribers. The Premium Tier is expected to grow to 100,000 hours of content in 2023, with Poker Face, live sports like the Women’s World Cup, Big Ten Football, and Premier League, and a library of shows including The Office and Yellowstone.
This is far from the most nefarious thing a streamer has done recently, but it does make one wonder what Peacock’s strategy is. Shortly after delivering some content that people are actually talking about and excited to see, they make the barrier of entry more difficult. Still, the streamer is expected to lose around $3 billion this year. Even with a reported 20 million subscribers, Comcast can’t make this thing profitable, which seems par for the course within the streaming landscape. WBD is making HBO Max and the Tnets worse by the day in hopes of drumming up tax write-downs. Paramount+ is subsuming Showtime while ditching originals. Bleak times in the streaming wars.