Peacock Heads to Roku as NBCU and Streaming Platform Strike a Deal
Roku and NBCUniversal have reached a deal bringing Peacock, NBCU’s recently-launched streaming service, to Roku, while also keeping a number of other NBC apps on the platform. Peacock will be available on Roku within the next few weeks, a person with knowledge of the deal told TheWrap on Friday.
“We are pleased to have reached an agreement with Comcast that will bring Peacock to Roku customers and maintains access to NBCU’s TV Everywhere apps,” a Roku rep said in a statement. “We look forward to offering these new options to consumers under an expanded, mutually beneficial relationship between our companies that includes adding NBC content to The Roku Channel and a meaningful partnership around advertising.”
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The agreement comes just a day after Comcast-owned NBCU threatened to pull its NBC Everywhere channels — which includes content from NBC, Bravo, E! and USA, among other channels — from Roku, along with 46 NBC apps.
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After initially debuting for Cox and Comcast customers on April 15, Peacock made its full launch mid-July, but was missing from the two biggest streaming platforms, Roku and Amazon Fire TV. At the heart of the disagreement over Peacock was the cut Roku takes — 20% for signup fees and 30% of ad inventory.
“We are pleased Roku recognizes the value in making NBCUniversal’s incredible family of apps and programming, including Peacock, available to all of their users across the country,” a rep for NBCU said in a statement. “Roku’s incredible reach will not only help us ensure Peacock is available to our fans wherever they consume video but continue to expand NBCUniversal’s unrivaled digital presence across platforms.”
Earlier this month, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said Peacock had topped 15 million signups. Comcast has projected Peacock will have up to 35 million subscribers by the end of 2024.
Peacock, which offers originals like “Brave New World” and library content like “30 Rock,” is available in two tiers, one for free and one with two different levels of fees.
The free option, called Peacock Free, includes next-day access to current seasons of freshman broadcast series on NBC, as well as library content like “Parks & Recreation” and curated daily news and sports programming. As for Peacock originals, this option only includes “select” episodes as well as access to what Peacock is calling “streaming genre channels” like “SNL Vault,” “Family Movie Night” and “Olympic Profiles.”
The second tier, called Peacock Premium, is available for no extra charge to Comcast and Cox subscribers. For everyone else, it costs $4.99 a month for an ad-supported option, or $9.99 a month to have no ads. The Premium tier features everything on the Free option but includes all Peacock Originals, early access to late-night series like “Tonight Show” and “Late Night” and more sports, including Premier League soccer.
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