Did Comcast Ditch Peacock’s Free Tier to Grow Xumo Play Into a Major Streaming Brand?

Most media companies have several side hustles. In addition to its multitude of broadcast and cable channels, Paramount Global has Paramount+ and SHOWTIME — which it is about to merge into one entity — as well as its movie studio and its free streaming service Pluto TV. FOX owns Tubi, Amazon has Freevee, etc., etc.

Comcast is no different from these companies in the way that it has chosen to diversify. Comcast owns NBCUniversal with its collection of traditional channels and its flagship streaming service Peacock, in addition to its free ad-supported offering Xumo Play.

But wait… if Comcast already owns a free streaming service, why does it operate a free tier of Peacock, too? Well, it doesn’t anymore. As The Streamable exclusively reported earlier this week, Peacock has discontinued offering its free tier as an option to new users signing up, and Xumo is likely a big reason why, as pointed out by TV Rev's Alan Wolk.

The sunsetting of the Peacock free tier now gives Comcast the opportunity to build up the Xumo Play brand, similar to what Paramount has done with Pluto and FOX has done with Tubi. In April 2022, Comcast partnered with rival media conglomerate Charter Communications to begin building a joint streaming venture offering, live streaming channels and on-demand content, among many other things.

The two sides decided to put that new streaming project under the Xumo brand in November when it was given its current moniker Xumo Play. At that time, the companies declared Xumo Play would be more than just a streaming service, it would be “an entire entertainment ecosystem inclusive of streaming devices, content and a platform for partners to reach audiences at scale.”

Having select shows and movies from NBCU would certainly help raise the profile of Xumo Play. The company could send content from the free tier of Peacock, such as early seasons of shows like “Yellowstone” or “The Office,” to stream for free on Xumo Play and instantly build some buzz around the platform.

Such a move would be similar to the way Paramount has used Pluto TV. In October 2022, Paramount announced that it was sending over 6,000 archival TV episodes to Pluto, including popular CBS legacy series like “Star Trek,” “Cheers,” and many more.

The addition of NBCU shows like “Parks and Rec” or “30 Rock” to Xumo Play would give it an instant boost due to the “lean-back” nature of those programs. Such shows are older but very familiar to users, meaning that when people turn them on, they are more looking for something comforting to pass the time, rather than a title to fully grip them with every twist and turn. This may not sound desirable to media companies on its face, but current FX chairman John Landegraf estimates that as much as 80% of all TV watching is in this lean-back model.

If Comcast begins making major additions to Xumo Play in the next few months, its reasons for cutting the free tier of Peacock will be quite clear. Given that Comcast recently announced Peacock more than doubled its number of paid subscribers in 2022, the company likely feels highly confident in its ability to continue building Peacock and developing the Xumo Play brand at the same time.