NBCU’s Peacock picks $10/month price for ad-free service - report

Comcast/NBCUniversal’s upcoming streaming service, Peacock, has reportedly roosted on a $10 per month price point for its ad-free option.

According to The Information, the service will also offer a $4.99 per month version of the service with limited ads. The rumored price points put Peacock at a lower-than or equal-to monthly rate compared to similar hybrid AVOD/SVOD services CBS All Access and Hulu. All Access charges $5.99/month for its service with limited ads and $9.99/month for its ad-free service. Hulu charges $5.99/month for its service with ads and $11.99/month for its ad-free option.

The low entry point cost for Peacock will likely be crucial to the service getting off the ground, as it will have to compete for a piece of consumers’ streaming budgets that often already include Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Hulu along with newcomers like Disney+.

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NBCUniversal is planning an investor meeting on January 16 to offer more details about its upcoming service. The company only said it will address the “overarching strategy for the platform.” Before that meeting, CES will host a keynote conversation featuring Linda Yaccarino, chairman of advertising and partnerships at NBCUniversal. That January 8 presentation – titled “If TV Was Invented Today: NBCUniversal Reimagines the Future of Entertainment” – could also include some discussion of Peacock.

In October, outgoing NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke said that Peacock will have a mix of originals, exclusive acquisitions like “The Office,” and a lot of non-exclusive content. But he assured investors that Comcast/NBCUniversal will continue licensing content to other platforms like HBO.

Peacock is planning to debut in April, and it will use the 2020 Summer Olympics as an “afterburner” after the launch. Burke said that NBCU will add a significant amount of content throughout 2020.

Peacock will run on top of Comcast and Sky’s technology platforms, and will be made available at no cost to NBCUniversal’s pay TV subscribers in the U.S. and international markets.