For the first time since Peacock debuted in 2020, NBCUniversal is hiking the monthly prices on the streaming service.
Starting at midnight ET Monday evening, NBCU will notify existing Peacock customers that their rates will be increasing as of next month. Effective Aug. 17, for existing users on their next billing cycle and immediately for new customers, the price of Peacock Premium (with ads) will increase by $1, to $5.99 per month, and Peacock Premium Plus (which is mostly commercial-free) will rise $2, to $11.99 per month.
In the three years since Peacock’s launch, the platform has added more than 80,000 hours of content, and will reach nearly 100,000 hours total over the coming year, according to NBCU. That includes exclusive pay-1 window movies from Universal Filmed Entertainment Group; NBC and Bravo episodes next-day; streaming channels from Hallmark and Reelz; and daily mornings news from CNBC and MSNBC.
As of the end of the first quarter of 2023, Peacock had 22 million subscribers, up more than 60% year over year, per Comcast.
According to the media company, by increasing the price of Peacock, it will be able to invest in content and the user experience while remaining competitive in the marketplace. Other streamers have recently hiked prices, too, including Disney+, Paramount+, Max (formerly HBO Max) and YouTube TV. Netflix most recently raised prices in the U.S. in early 2022.
NBCU has taken previous steps to accelerate the profitability of the Peacock biz, after losses are expected to peak at about $3 billion in 2023. The company earlier this year shut off access to Peacock’s free tier to new users, and in June stopped bundling Peacock Premium for free for Comcast’s Xfinity customers.
Peacock’s lineup includes more than 5,000 hours of live sports, which NBCU says gives it the most live sports of any direct-to-consumer streaming service in the U.S. Sports content on Peacock includes the FIFA Women’s World Cup (July), Sunday Night Football, an NFL Wild Card Playoff Game (January 2024), Premier League soccer, Big 10 football (beginning fall 2023), Notre Dame football and WWE’s SummerSlam.
Library film and TV titles on Peacock include “Yellowstone,” “The Office,” “Parks and Recreation,” “New Girl,” and the Harry Potter movie series. Peacock’s original series include “Poker Face,” “Mrs. Davis,” “The Continental,” “Bel-Air,” “Dr. Death,” “Based on a True Story” and “Bupkis.”