Comcast CEO ‘Believes’ Peacock Will Be Available on All Major Platforms Like Fire TV
Comcast crossed a major threshold with their Flex devices this year, deploying 3 million boxes for the first time. Could more good news be on the way?
During the Morgan Stanley TMT Conference, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts revealed the milestone number for their broadband customer-only streaming device. When asked about the outlook on Flex, Roberts gave a three-pronged answer. “First of all, gives you those video entertainment choices that, that is what people now want — so it is the new television. Second, we get about a 15% to 20% reduction in churn and customers who engage and we’re about 50% engagement with the people who have Flex. So that’s an opportunity to increase that engagement and take advantage of the the fact that they then think more highly of the company and churn less. It’s also a platform for future relationships and opportunities in R&D. I think we have the best aggregation tools in the country. You want our products…not you have to have our products.”
Roberts also urged stakeholders to expect more information in the future. “I think we’re going to have announcements also this year around flecks and streaming aggregation, and so stay tuned for that.”
Is Peacock Coming to Amazon Fire TV?
The only major streaming platform yet to embrace NBCUniversal’s Peacock is Amazon Fire TV — but is that about to change?
Roberts also said he believes Peacock will be available on all major platforms soon. Roberts gave no specifics or timetable, simply saying that the move would happen soon.
“We’re not on every platform yet with Peacock. We’re on most. We hope and believe we’ll get to all the major platforms soon,” Roberts said during the call.
The move would fill a void for both parties, as Amazon Fire TV would join Roku’s platform, Google Chromecast, and Apple TV as the only streaming devices to have every major streaming service available in one place. Plus, Peacock would love to fill the Amazon-sized hole it currently has in its distribution.
Despite its inaccessibility on Amazon Fire TV, Peacock has thrived, hitting 33 million sign-ups as of January, according to Roberts. Comcast did not break down the numbers into free versus paid subscribers, or report on daily and monthly active users, but said the sign-up number is promising. Appearing on Amazon Fire TV would put Peacock in front of Amazon’s over-50 million users, increasing the odds for more sign-ups.
Peacock is currently available for download on Apple TV, Google Chromecast, Roku, iPhone/iPad, Web Browsers, Android Phone/Tablet, Android TV, Xbox, and most smart TVs.