BREAKING: Peacock to Raise Prices on Both Subscription Tiers, One Week Before 2024 Olympics
For the second straight summer, the NBCUniversal service will increase its subscription prices.
Since its launch on July 15, 2020, NBCUniversal’s Peacock has slowly, but steadily built itself into a solid streaming service, in part, by keeping its prices low. Over the course of its nearly four years, it has only increased its subscription price once, when it raised its monthly rates $1 and $2 respectively in honor of its third anniversary last July. Now, it appears that NBCU is making something of an annual tradition of the practice as on Monday, the company announced that it would again be raising prices in July.
Key Details:
- For the second straight July, Peacock is set to increase its prices on both subscription tiers.
- Over the course of one year, the price for the service’s ad-supported tier will increase from $4.99 to $7.99 and its ad-free option from $9.99 to $13.99.
- The platform will also stream every single event from the 2024 Paris Olympics, which begin one week after the price hike takes effect.
On Monday, the streamer announced that it would be increasing the price of its ad-supported Peacock Premium subscription from $5.99 to $7.99, a $2 increase to go along with the $1 rate hike that the plan experienced last summer.
Also, the ad-free Premium Plus tier will go from $11.99 monthly to $13.99, representing a $4 increase since June 2023. In addition to being ad-free, this subscription plan also allows customers to download select content and watch their local NBC affiliate live around the clock. For customers who would like to lock in a year’s worth of savings can sign up for an annual plan to the Premium tier for $79.99; the Premium Plus year-long subscription will cost $139.99.
The pricing change will go into effect on July 18 for new subscribers, and existing customers will see the rate hike reflected on their next bill beginning on Aug. 17. While the timing seems to be tied to Peacock’s anniversary, it is also fairly fortunate for NBCU as the company will be the exclusive domestic broadcaster of the 2024 Olympics in Paris, and Peacock will stream every single event of the XXXIII Olympiad live. The Opening Ceremony of the Games will take place on July 26, the week after the price increase for new customers goes into effect.
In addition to the events themselves, Peacock will also introduce new features like Peacock Live Actions and Peacock Discovery Multiview, in addition to their Gold Zone whip-around show, hosted by NFL RedZone icons Scott Hanson and Andrew Siciliano, as well as Matt Iseman and Akbar Gbajabiamila. Podcasting superstar Alex Cooper will also host interactive watch parties as well. In total, Peacock will be the home of over 5,000 hours of Olympic coverage in July and August.
What Other Pricing Changes Has Peacock Had in the Past?
While Peacock might not have raised its prices for its first three years of existence, last July’s price hike was the capstone to six months of changes for the streamer. From the beginning, NBCU approached the platform far differently than many of their competitors. Upon launch, Peacock offered both paid and free subscription options. While the paid service had more content and features, as many as 15 million people had active free accounts with the service in March 2022. However, at the end of January 2023, NBCU discontinued the free option for new customers, converting Peacock exclusively to a subscription video-on-demand service.
But that wasn’t the only change that the streamer saw two and a half years into its existence. As NBCU is part of the Comcast corporate family, from launch, Peacock was made available for free to Xfinity cable and internet customers. However, just a few weeks after removing the options for new subscribers, NBCU did the same for Comcast customers.
These changes initially had a substantial impact on Peacock’s subscriber totals, but the platform has rebounded since. Earlier this month, Comcast reported the service had 34 million customers. While that total is relatively small in comparison to Peacock’s largest competitors like Netflix, Prime Video, and Disney+, it represents a significant increase from the 22 million that the service had at the end of March 2023.
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.