Peacock (streaming service)

• 1. A Nation Tunes In

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  In January 2024, Peacock broadcast its first exclusive NFL playoff game. No postseason NFL game had ever been available only through a streaming service outside local television markets before that broadcast. An average of 23 million viewers tuned in, making it the most-streamed live event in U.S. history at that point. The service gained 3 million paid subscribers that month.

  Peacock is an American streaming service owned by Comcast through its entertainment division, NBCUniversal. It launched nationally on the 15th of July 2020. By January 2026, it counted 44 million paid subscribers. That growth required library acquisitions, soap opera deals, exclusive wrestling contracts, and quarterly losses in the hundreds of millions of dollars. At launch, the platform offered at least 15,000 hours of content to free users, with an additional 5,000 hours reserved for Premium subscribers.

• 2. Announcement and Launch

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  On the 14th of January 2019, NBCUniversal announced plans to build an over-the-top streaming service in 2020. The service would carry original and library content, and be available in both free ad-supported and paid ad-free versions. Bonnie Hammer was named chairman of the effort, operating under a division called NBCUniversal Direct-to-Consumer and Digital Enterprises.

  On the 17th of September 2019, the company revealed the name: Peacock, an allusion to the NBC peacock logo. The initial programming slate included the sci-fi series Brave New World, moved from USA Network's development, and limited series Angelyne. Crime drama Dr. Death, comedy Rutherford Falls, and teen drama One of Us Is Lying were also named. Talk show The Amber Ruffin Show joined them. Reboots and continuations of Battlestar Galactica, Punky Brewster, and Saved by the Bell rounded out the early slate.

  Rights to NBC's sitcom The Office would move exclusively to Peacock in October 2020. Parks and Recreation would follow in January 2021.

  The service soft launched on the 15th of April 2020 for Comcast's Xfinity X1 and Flex customers. The national rollout came on the 15th of July 2020. By August 2021, Peacock had reached at least 54 million signups across its tiers. By April 2022, the service had 13 million paid subscribers, a 40% increase from the previous quarter.

• 3. Library Deals and Content Moves

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  On the 16th of January 2020, Peacock acquired streaming rights to the Warner Bros. Television series Two and a Half Men and George Lopez. The Paramount Network series Yellowstone and The Matrix films also came aboard. In February 2020, A&E Networks licensed titles from the A&E and History libraries to the platform.

  On the 1st of July 2020, ViacomCBS non-exclusively licensed titles including Everybody Hates Chris, Ray Donovan, and Undercover Boss to Peacock. The service also held rights to several Paramount Pictures films under a limited exclusivity window from 2021 to 2023.

  The Harry Potter film series arrived on Peacock in October 2020, under an existing deal with NBCUniversal networks. That arrangement ended on the 1st of September 2021, when WarnerMedia reclaimed the rights and placed the films on HBO Max.

  On the 6th of July 2021, Universal announced it would end its pay-one output deal with HBO. Universal films would instead come to Peacock during the pay-one window beginning in 2022. The window was later compressed. On the 9th of December 2021, Universal confirmed its films could arrive on Peacock as little as 45 days after their theatrical release.

  After a 57-year run on NBC, the soap opera Days of Our Lives moved exclusively to Peacock Premium beginning the 12th of September 2022. A spin-off, Days of Our Lives: Beyond Salem, had already premiered as a Peacock original. NBCUniversal exercised its option to end its next-day streaming agreement with Hulu for NBC and Bravo programming. That content moved to Peacock for the upcoming television season.

  On the 31st of October 2022, NBCUniversal announced a content deal with Hallmark Media. The agreement added on-demand programming from Hallmark Channel, Hallmark Movies and Mysteries, and Hallmark Drama to Peacock Premium. Live linear feeds of all three networks were included. That agreement expired at the end of April 2025, when Hallmark Media launched its own streaming service, Hallmark+.

• 4. The WWE Years

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  On the 25th of January 2021, NBCUniversal signed a five-year agreement giving Peacock exclusive U.S. distribution rights to the WWE Network library. Rights took effect on the 18th of March 2021. WWE's weekly programs Raw and NXT were already televised on NBCUniversal's USA Network. The streaming deal folded pay-per-view events, rebranded by WWE as Premium Live Events or PLEs, into Peacock Premium. Paid subscribers received full archive access and live streaming of those events.

  The standalone WWE Network service for existing U.S. subscribers shut down on the 4th of April 2021, following a transitional period. Some archive content was edited before appearing on Peacock, removing material considered inappropriate under current NBCUniversal standards.

  In May 2021, Peacock ordered WWE Evil, a documentary series created, produced, and narrated by John Cena. The series chronicled WWE's most prominent villains. WWE committed to producing one signature documentary annually beginning in 2022. The first, Wooooo! Becoming Ric Flair, was released in December 2022.

  WrestleMania XL in April 2024 became Peacock's most-streamed entertainment event, trailing only the exclusive NFL playoff broadcast from earlier that year. In August 2025, WWE announced that main roster PLEs would move to ESPN's direct-to-consumer streaming service in April 2026. The move was then accelerated ahead of schedule.

  WWE's contract included a yearly quota of main roster PLEs. Two-night WrestleManias beginning in 2021, Evolution in 2025, and a two-night SummerSlam in 2025 had collectively fulfilled that quota early. The main roster PLEs transferred to ESPN in September 2025.

  Peacock retained NXT's livestreaming events until the 15th of March 2026. It continued holding replays of recent SmackDown episodes through at least 2029. That arrangement flowed from USA Network's five-year broadcasting rights deal for the program, which began in 2024. The quarterly Saturday Night's Main Event specials moved exclusively from NBC to Peacock under a multi-year deal beginning in late 2025. That deal included John Cena's retirement event in December of that year.

• 5. Sports as Growth Engine

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  The 2022 FIFA World Cup, simulcast in Spanish from Telemundo and Universo, drove subscriber growth in Peacock's fourth quarter of 2022. By December of that year, the service reported 20 million paid subscribers.

  The 2024 Summer Olympics proved equally effective. During the first week of the Games in August 2024, Peacock added 2.8 million new subscribers. A Comcast filing showed the service had 33 million paid subscribers before the Olympics opened.

  Peacock carries 175 Premier League soccer matches per season not shown on linear television, and all stages of the Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes. Big Ten Conference football and basketball games, exclusive NASCAR playoff races, and college basketball from multiple conferences also appear on the platform.

  Peacock carried MLB Sunday Leadoff, featuring exclusive national midday games on Sunday afternoons for Premium subscribers, beginning in the 2022 season. The package was not renewed for 2024 but returned in 2026.

  The NFL arrangement brought Peacock one exclusive regular-season game per season beginning in 2023. All Sunday Night Football and playoff game simulcasts air on Peacock alongside NBC. Under NFL rules, those exclusive Peacock games air on over-the-air NBC stations in the home markets of the teams involved. A separate agreement also gave Peacock one exclusive Wild Card playoff game during the 2023 postseason.

  In August 2023, EverPass Media signed a multi-year deal to distribute selected Peacock-exclusive sports content to commercial venues across the U.S. The branding for that package was Peacock Sports Pass. For the 2025-26 season, Peacock began streaming exclusive NBA Monday-night games under a new agreement with the National Basketball Association.

• 6. The Business of Tiers

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  Peacock launched with three tiers: a free ad-supported option, a Premium tier, and a Premium Plus tier. Premium Plus offered ad-free viewing and live streaming of local NBC affiliates. The free version provided a limited content selection without a subscription.

  In January 2023, NBCUniversal discontinued the free tier for new customers. Only subscription-based plans became available to new users from that point. Existing subscribers and those whose paid plans had lapsed retained access to the free tier.

  As of 2025, Peacock offers four tiers: Free, Select, Premium, and Premium Plus. The Free, Select, and Premium tiers carry advertising, capped at five minutes per hour. In July 2025, Peacock raised prices by approximately three dollars per month. Premium moved to $10.99 per month and Premium Plus to $16.99. A Select tier at $7.99 per month entered a trial phase, carrying library content and current NBC and Bravo programming but no live sports.

  In September 2025, a deal with Walmart gave Walmart+ subscribers a choice between Peacock and Paramount+. Members could switch between the two every 90 days. In October 2025, NBCUniversal and Apple announced a discounted bundle pairing Peacock with the Apple TV streaming service. NBCUniversal offered up to three episodes of select Peacock series to Apple TV subscribers as part of the deal. Apple provided up to three episodes of select Apple originals to Peacock subscribers in return.

  In January 2026, Peacock posted a loss of $552 million for the fourth quarter of 2025. That compared with $372 million in losses during the same quarter of 2024. By the first quarter of 2026, losses had narrowed to $432 million, and paid subscribers had risen above 46 million. On the 11th of May 2026, Peacock updated its logo. One dot was removed from the stacked design element, and the remaining five were reshaped into a gradient. The change aimed to improve legibility on mobile screens.

• 7. Going Global, Then Pulling Back

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  Comcast and Sky announced on the 29th of July 2021 that Peacock would launch in six European territories. Those territories were Austria, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Sky Q, Sky Glass, and Now or Wow customers in those countries would receive the service at no extra cost.

  Peacock soft launched in the UK and Ireland on the 16th of November 2021, available to Sky and Now subscribers. Austria and Germany followed with a soft launch on the 25th of January 2022. Italy came next on the 15th of February, and Switzerland on the 2nd of March.

  On the 18th of August 2021, Comcast reached an agreement with Paramount Global to launch SkyShowtime, a joint streaming service built on Peacock's infrastructure. SkyShowtime targeted 20 smaller European territories, including four Nordic countries, Hungary, and Poland. The service launched in the Nordic countries on the 20th of September 2022. It reached Spain and Andorra by the 28th of February 2023.

  In France, NBCUniversal launched the platform under the name Universal+. That service went live on the 17th of November 2022, using the same content and technology as Peacock.

  Beginning in January 2023, Peacock was curtailed in Sky territories. On the 9th of January 2024, the service shut down in those markets entirely. Some Peacock shows moved to Sky channels; others went to Hayu.

  In December 2023, Comcast CEO Mike Cavanagh stated that there were no plans to launch Peacock as a standalone service outside the United States. International distribution would continue through partnerships and joint ventures.

  In March 2023, NBCUniversal and Sky announced a partnership with South African company MultiChoice to relaunch the streaming service Showmax. NBCUniversal holds 30% of that joint venture; MultiChoice holds 70%. The platform relaunched on the 14th of February 2024, carrying Peacock and Sky content alongside African originals and MultiChoice programming.

  In India, an agreement announced in May 2023 placed Peacock as a content hub on JioCinema. The deal was structured through Viacom18, a joint venture of Reliance Industries and Paramount Global. New Zealand broadcaster TVNZ entered a distribution partnership scheduled to begin in mid-2026.