After Years of Demand, ‘Homicide: Life on the Street’ Set to Stream on Peacock Next Month
NBCUniversal has finally been able to clear the music rights for one of the most beloved dramas in TV history.
For fans of prestige procedural crime dramas, there has been no holier grail in the streaming age than “Homicide: Life on the Streets.” The iconic NBC series that starred the late Andre Braugher and wrapped up its run in 2000 has not been available to stream on any platform in large part due to music licensing rights. However, on Monday, NBCUniversal announced that the show will finally be available to stream on Peacock beginning in August.
Key Details:
- After years, NBCU has cleared the must rights that had prevented “Homicide” from streaming.
- The show will now begin streaming on Peacock in August.
- NBC has also upgraded the video quality to HD and 4K for the first time ever.
All seven seasons of the show and its season finale movie “Homicide: The Movie” will be available to stream on Peacock beginning on Monday, Aug. 19. Created by Paul Attanasio and based on the book “Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets” by David Simon, the series won countless awards, including four Primetime Emmy Awards and three Peabodys, the first drama series to ever accomplish that feat.
Simon, who later went on to create the acclaimed police drama “The Wire,” has long been pushing to get “Homicide” on streaming. Following Braugher’s death last December, Simon first broke the news that NBCUniversal was working on the complicated process of clearing the show's music rights. Since all of the contracts for the show’s music usage predate the existence of streaming, they all needed to be renegotiated, or the episodes had to be re-edited to use different music.
However, the creators had resisted making any changes to the music used in the series because of how important each individual song selected was to the telling of the story. Then just last month, Simon confirmed that NBC had finally wrapped up the rights process, and that the show would finally be coming to streaming. However, he did not indicate which service that would be.
Now we know that NBCU will keep the series in the family as it will stream on Peacock. Additionally, the company’s reps also confirmed that when it arrives on streaming, the series will be remastered for HD and 4K viewing for the very first time, meaning that the version of “Homicide” that will be available on Peacock next month will look as good as it ever has.
Nearly a quarter century following its series finale, “Homicide: Life on the Street” remains one of the most revered police dramas of all time. With Simon’s background as a Baltimore crime reporter, the series examines the calculating and exacting work done by the confrontational, passionate, and opinionated homicide detectives in the city’s police force. The eclectic set of characters never let their quest for truth and justice be deterred, and this series remains the standard bearer of how many people believe that police officers should handle their jobs both professionally and personally.
For fans of the long-running “Law & Order” franchise, they might notice a familiar character when they tune into “Homicide.” Richard Belzer played Det. John Munch on all seven seasons of the show, before he (both Belzer and Munch) moved over to “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” in 1999. In addition to Braugher and Belzer, the series also starred Daniel Baldwin, Clark Johnson, Yaphet Kotto, Melissa Leo, Kyle Secor, Jon Polito, Ned Beatty, Isabella Hofmann, Giancarlo Esposito, Željko Ivanek, and more.
Peacock
Peacock is a subscription video streaming service from NBCUniversal that includes original shows, blockbuster movies, and classic television series. Peacock is home to “Yellowstone,” and “The Office,” as well as original hits like “Poker Face” and “Bel-Air.” You can also watch live sports including NFL, MLB, WWE, Olympics, Premier League, NASCAR, French Open, College Football and Basketball, and PGA Tour. Premium Plus subscribers can stream their local NBC feed in all 210 markets.