Peacock is adding live streams of local NBC affiliates to its ad-free Premium Plus subscription plan.
The streaming service said the 24/7 channel will be available in all 210 NBC affiliate markets on November 30, with some Premium Plus subscribers getting access as early as Wednesday as part of a soft launch.
The live channel feeds will feature NBC local news, sports and weather, along with network programming such as “Today,” “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” and NBC prime.
NBCUniversal’s Peacock noted that local streams will be automatically geotargeted and available on the Peacock homepage, delivered as it would appear in a traditional broadcast experience. The move adds live local NBC affiliate content to Peacock’s on-demand offering and could entice subscribers to bump up to the premium tier. Peacock’s Premium Plus ad-free tier costs $9.99 per month, while its base paid plan (called Premium) with limited ads costs $4.99 per month.
“With Peacock’s local affiliate livestream, our subscribers are getting the unique combination of the ad-free on-demand content they love with the local news and NBC programming that is already part of their daily life,” said Kelly Campbell, president of Peacock and Direct-to-Consumer at NBCUniversal, in a statement. “NBC affiliates have long been an integral part of local communities, and we look forward to being another point of connection and engagement for those communities across the country.”
Bringing local news into the mix is something other streamers have been looking at as well. That includes Roku’s free ad-supported platform The Roku Channel, which over the summer added live local news through a partnership with NBCUniversal Local in several markets. Paramount+ also already offers livestreams of CBS affiliates for premium users.
“Our NBC Affiliate stations are trusted destinations for our viewers to be entertained and informed,” said Eric Meyrowitz, EVP of Hearst Television and Chair of NBC Affiliates Board, in a statement. “This partnership elevates our commitment to our audiences by giving them another place to receive our local and NBC broadcast programming alongside Peacock’s original and unique content.”
Peacock recently boosted content with the addition of next-day programming from current NBC and Bravo, marking a shift as NBC shows used to land on Hulu. This month it inked a deal with Hallmark Media for both live linear and on-demand content.
Speaking on parent Comcast’s third quarter earnings call, Comcast Cable CEO Dave Watson said it has already seen a nice uplift from its next-day broadcast. As of Q3, Peacock had over 15 million paid subscribers (with another 14 million bundled and free users), adding around 2 million in the period.
Peacock revenue more than doubled year-over-year to $506 million, while recording a $604 million EBTIDA loss in the quarter.