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Creator / Peacock

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https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/peacock_logo_2.jpg
Can't Not Watch

Peacock is an ad-supported subscription-based (which had a free membership plan where one can enjoy a partial selection of the library with limited ads) streaming service launched in 2020 that is owned and operated by NBCUniversal, itself owned by Comcast. As the conglomerate's official answer to Netflix and Hulu (which NBCU maintains minority ownership of until 2024, when it will sell its stake to majority owner Disney), the service's content encompasses material from all of NBCUniversal's brands.

Peacock is offered in three tiers. The "Free" version has a reduced content output. A "Premium" tier includes the complete programming lineup. The third tier is an ad-free version of the Premium tier. In addition to its video-on-demand offerings, Peacock also offers special linear channels airing exclusive content not available on NBCU's other nets. The linear channels will offer NBC's late-night schedule just hours before airing on the network itself. In 2022, Peacock added livestreams of the NBC network but only on their Premium Plus tier.

The service is planned to be the home of all content from the Universal, Focus Features, Illumination Entertainment and DreamWorks Animation studios (including its Classic Media subsidiary). While newer content from these studios were not available at launch due to pre-existing contracts, 2022-and-beyond releases* will premiere on the service for the first and return on the last four months of their 18-month pay 1 window, in an unusual arrangement which will see films shared with Prime Video (live-action releases) and Netflix (for DreamWorks Animation and Illumination movies) in between the period. The service also carried the day-and-date streaming releases of The Boss Baby: Family Business and Halloween Kills on its paid tiers.

Subscribers to Xfinity's X1 and Flex cable plans previously had free access to the ad-supported Premium tier at no additional cost. A beta version of the service was launched for participating Xfinity subscribers on April 15, 2020, with the official rollout commencing on July 15. Similar to Max (previously HBO Max), the service was not carried by all smart-TV services at launch; the service resolved its disputes with Roku in 2020, but only reached an agreement with Amazon Fire TV and many other platforms in mid-2021.

The service also expanded through the UK, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy through Sky starting in 2022 but was short-lived.

In 2023, Peacock eliminated its free tier for new users encouraging those to sign up for their Premium tier.

Also this is the only streaming service that has a recipe in its terms of use. No, really.note

See the trailer here.

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Content Providers

    NBCUniversal 

    Third-Party Providers 

Original programs by Peacock

    Films — Animation 

    Films — Live-Action 

    Live-Action TV 

    Western Animation 

Exclusive US distribution

    Live-Action TV 

Day-and-date theatrical releases (available on Peacock for a limited time)

Tropes associated with Peacock:

  • Advertising by Association: After The Office was added to the service in 2021, Peacock temporarily altered the descriptions of its various price tiers (Free, Premium and Premium Plus) to discuss how much of the show would be available with each tier, acknowledging the show's intended Killer App status.
  • Banned Episode: Similar to Hulu, the 30 Rock episodes "Believe in the Stars" and "Live from Studio 6H" (East and West Coast versions) are banned due to scenes of white characters in blackface (Jenna posing as a black man in "Believe in the Stars" in the former episode and John Hamm playing a stereotypical black man in a parody of Amos 'n Andy in the latter episode) following the George Floyd riots and the heightened concern over systemic racism that followed.
  • Channel Hop: Certain films and series initially available for other services like Netflix and Hulu would move to Peacock, the most notable being The Office moving from Netflix to the service.
  • Digital Destruction:
    • Sadly played straight with The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat, which is taken from low-quality PAL masters as opposed to the original broadcast tapes, which are presumably lost.
    • The episodes of Sitting Ducks suffer the same issue as above, the audio is higher pitched and rendered at a different framerate.
  • Enemy Mine:
    • With Hulu, which carried NBC programming and made a licensing deal with Dreamworks Animation (owned by NBCUniversal) prior to Peacock being announced. It's unclear what concessions were made (and if they were related to Comcast becoming a silent partner after Disney took majority control of Hulu), but Peacock was able to secure joint rights to stream NBC's programming and select new DreamWorks films, plus got to co-distribute several new animated shows with Hulu, beginning with Madagascar: A Little Wild. This changed in 2022, when NBC did not renew its arrangement with Hulu and pulled its current-season programming from the service in September, giving Peacock sole streaming rights to new NBC/Bravo material; however, Hulu retains the joint ownership of DreamWorks series and some older NBC shows.
    • With Prime Video, entering an unusual distribution deal for live-action Universal and Focus Features films beginning in 2022; for each film's 18-month first pay-TV window, Peacock will distribute for the first and last 4 months, while Prime takes the middle 10 months, allowing NBCUniversal's platform to benefit from their films without sacrificing a lucrative Amazon licensing deal. (Universal's animated films are set to do likewise, but with Netflix taking the middle portion instead of Prime.) As part of the arrangement, Amazon's Freevee platform secured second-window rights to Universal's 2020-21 slate, which had originally been set to run on Peacock.
  • Follow the Leader: Downplayed, as it's not a straightforward Netflix clone in the way Disney+ and HBO Max are. Peacock is essentially a mashup of Hulu (ad-supported premium content with an ad-free option) and Pluto TV (channels and free programming) that has also downplayed the "brand-centric streaming service" nature of Disney+, HBO Max and Apple TV+ by incorporating content from third parties more freely. Executive Matt Strauss even joked about how "[they] did not call this service NBC Plus."
    • Plus, nowadays we tend to forget NBCUniversal already had its own streaming service before, Seeso. This was, however, short-lived (lasting for little more than a year from 2016 to 2017) and was centered around comedy, as opposed to Peacock's generalist focus. At the time "streaming" was basically synonymous with "Netflix", which further dented its appeal.
  • Network to the Rescue:
  • Screwed by the Lawyers:
    • Like with HBO Max, the service was initially unavailable on both Roku and Amazon Fire devices due to those two companies having disagreements with NBCUniversal. No deals with the two would be successfully negotiated with their parent companies until September of 2020 & June of 2021 respectively, when Roku & Amazon were each able to reach such agreements with NBCUniversal and Peacock & has been available to watch on their devices since then.
    • Because NBCUniversal still has agreements with Netflix, Hulu, and HBO, the last of which would end in 2022, many movies and series whose rights remain exclusive to them wouldn't be available on the service until further notice.
    • Many episodes of various incarnations of Law & Order aren't available due to prior agreements with other services and networks.
    • NBCUniversal having the rights to the Harry Potter films despite them being made by Warner Bros. is why the movies were yanked off HBO Max and subsequently added to Peacock. On the plus side, you can watch all the movies in the series for free as long as you sign up, you don't have to pay a single penny.

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