Check out our top-to-bottom review of Peacock
Check out our top-to-bottom review of Peacock
We’ll give you an incredibly detailed look at the NBCUniversal streaming service below.
Every top entertainment company in the United States has an on-demand streaming service of its own. These services vary in size and content offerings, but they all do their best to represent their company by providing viewers with access to premium TV shows and movies.
NBCUniversal’s streaming service Peacock first launched in 2020. The tiers offered by the streamer have varied greatly since first being introduced, as has its library and lineup of live programming. In 2026, it offers a huge selection of on-demand entertainment from NBC and other channels, as well as a robust selection of live sports.
If you’ve never subscribed to Peacock before and want a more objective analysis of the streamer before committing your money to an account of your own, check out our comprehensive review below. We’ll go over all the most important aspects of the streamer to help you get a good idea of what a subscription will look like for you.
The Streamable’s review of Peacock
What is Peacock?
Peacock is NBCU’s on-demand streaming service. It offers original TV shows, movies, documentaries, and specials, as well as older titles from the NBC library. It also streams a wide variety of live sports found on NBC channels.
Like other on-demand streaming services, Peacock follows a month-to-month pricing model, with annual subscriptions also available. Viewers can cancel at any time with a monthly Peacock subscription, but they’re more vulnerable to price increases.
How much is Peacock?
| Peacock plan | Price | Ads? | Full Peacock library? | Live sports access? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peacock Select | $8 per month $80 per year |
Yes | No | No |
| Peacock Premium | $11 per month $110 per year |
Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Peacock Premium Plus | $17 per month $170 per year |
No | Yes | Yes |
Is Peacock available in any bundles?
Peacock is available in just one bundle that’s available to the general public without needing to subscribe to an additional retail service. Viewers can sign up for a bundle of Peacock and Apple TV starting at $15 per month, more than 30% off the retail price.
Xfinity TV and internet customers can also sign up for Peacock as part of a bundle with Apple TV Disney+, HBO Max, Hulu, and Netflix in the Xfinity StreamStore. These StreamSaver bundles allow customers to save 35% or more on top streaming services by subscribing to all of them at once.
Users can opt to receive a free Peacock Premium with a subscription to Walmart+ as one of that package’s benefits. Walmart+ starts at $13 per month, and includes perks like free shipping and more.
What’s in Peacock’s content library?
Peacock’s content is mainly sourced from NBC’s decades-long library of TV shows. The streamer offers comedy favorites from NBC like “Community,” “The Office,” and “Saturday Night Live,” long-running dramas like “Law & Order: SVU,” and more.
Universal’s live-action and animated movies also stream on Peacock first. These films get a four-month release on Peacock once they’re no longer theatrical exclusives, and the streamer typically gets these movies 50 - 120 days after they first bow in theaters. After four months, movies shift to Netflix for 10 months.
Peacock still gets on-demand programming from Bravo in addition to NBC; shows that appear on Bravo typically air new episodes on Peacock the next day. In addition, the streamer gets a wide selection of on-demand programming from REELZ, including the unscripted police series “On Patrol: Live.”
Like every streaming service, Peacock’s library also includes original TV shows. It has a penchant for drama with shows like “All Her Fault” and “M.I.A.,” and also offers a great selection of original true crime documentaries. But Peacock originals aren’t all dark and dour; the streamer also offers titles like “The Office” sequel, “The Paper.”
Overall, Peacock’s on-demand content library succeeds at having something for everyone. It even offers a selection of kids’ shows like “Curious George,” though it’s more geared toward adults, to be sure. One thing you won’t see a ton of on Peacock is licensed titles; outside of notable exceptions like “Yellowstone,” the streamer’s library is mostly comprised of NBCU content.
Does Peacock include live TV channels?
Peacock offers a selection of more than 50 live TV channels. Most of these fall into the category of free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channels, including news options like NBC News NOW and Sky News, sports like the NFL Channel and Premier League TV, and crime options like REELZ and Dateline 24/7.
Viewers who subscribe to Peacock Premium Plus will also be able to stream their local NBC station 24 hours per day, including all sports, news, and primetime programming. Finally, customers who live in markets where NBC Sports regional sports networks are available can stream those channels live as an add-on to Peacock’s Premium or Premium Plus plan for between $15 and $25 per month.
How is the ad experience on Peacock?
Customers of the Peacock Select and Peacock Premium plans will have to deal with ads during playback of TV shows, movies, and live sports. Premium Plus customers will see ads during playback of some titles, but most will be ad-free. Live content features ads on all Peacock plans.
During The Streamable’s user tests last year, we found that Peacock showed around five to seven minutes of ads per hour of content. That’s pretty standard among on-demand services in our experience; neither great nor terrible.
What sports are available on Peacock?
Peacock has one of the most impressive lineups of live sports of any streaming service on the market. Fans can watch all live sports found on Peacock with a subscription to the Premium or Premium Plus plans. Available sports on the service include:
- “Sunday Night Football”
- MLB regular season and playoff games
- NBA regular season and playoff games
- English Premier League soccer
- Big Ten football and basketball
- Notre Dame football
- Summer and Winter Olympics
- Big East basketball
- WNBA games
- NASCAR races
- Golf
- Top horse racing events
- Rugby
- The Tour de France
What are Peacock’s key features?
Peacock offers Ultra-High-Definition 4K titles with its Premium and Premium Plus plans, and Dolby Atmos audio with a Premium Plus subscription as well. Peacock allows subscribers to watch up to three simultaneous streams at a given moment, with this limit applying to all plans.
Peacock Premium Plus subscribers can download up to 25 TV episodes or movies on a mobile device for offline viewing. Its user interface offers content hubs for easier discovery, as well as mini games and interactive puzzles, sometimes alongside certain events.
The streamer has a vertical video experience for smartphone viewing, and is one of the only streamers to allow viewers to watch live sports (namely NBA broadcasts) in vertical format. As announced in May 2026, the streamer will also begin streaming microdramas with this vertical feed.
| Peacock plan | 4K video | Premium audio | Downloads |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peacock Select | No | No | No |
| Peacock Premium | Yes | Yes | No |
| Peacock Premium Plus | Yes | Yes | Yes |
What devices can you watch Peacock on?
You can stream Peacock on all the top smart TV and streaming player operating systems in the United States, including Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Google TV, Roku, Samsung, VIZIO, and others. The streamer is also available on Android and iOS mobile devices, as well as widely available web browsers in the U.S.
One subscriber’s perspective of Peacock
I really value my Peacock subscription, but mostly because of my chronic re-watching habits. The streamer’s selection of my old favorites keeps me coming back every month or two to put on an episode of “The Office” or “Parks & Rec” on in the background, and that accounts for around 80% of my usage.
The other 20% is devoted to live sports — mostly “Sunday Night Football” games that I want to stream on my phone while second-screening. But now that the NBA is on NBC and Peacock, I do find myself tuning in more often — if my Denver Nuggets are playing, at least.
Since I’m not as big a fan of reality TV and haven’t found a Peacock original that’s truly gripped me so far, I’d probably cancel and re-subscribe to the streamer instead of keeping a subscription if my TV habits were different. But nostalgic shows are what keep me a sustained Peacock subscriber — something that may help readers decide whether or not the streamer is right for them.
Ultimately, I think the user experience on Peacock is fairly intuitive. The streamer sorts its content in an easy-to-browse way that lays out shows, movies, and sports simply. It will take a little time to get used to, as all app interfaces do, but new subscribers will have the ins and outs of Peacock down before long.
If you’re a huge fan of NBC and Bravo programming, enjoy getting a sampling of live sports from top leagues around the United States, and enjoy nostalgic TV titles, a Peacock subscription could be just up your alley. It’s not for everyone, but hopefully our review has given you a good idea of whether or not you’re a solid fit for the streamer.
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,” “The Office,” and original hits like “Poker Face” and “Bel-Air.” You can also watch live sports and NBC programming, including the NFL, MLB, WWE, the Olympics, the Premier League, NASCAR, the French Open, college football and basketball, and the PGA Tour. Premium Plus subscribers can stream their local NBC feed in all 210 markets.