PEACOCK LAUNCHES LOCAL PREVIEW IN THE USA AHEAD OF 15 JULY LAUNCH

Today, Comcast launched an early preview of the premium tier of NBCUniversal's streaming service, Peacock. Its debut on Xfinity X1 and Flex is free for subscribers and comes ahead of a full launch on 15 July. In January, NBCUniversal announced its hopes to reach 35 million active subscribers by 2024. The service offers a free trial featuring 7,500 hours of movies and shows that will be freely available across mobile, web and popular connected-TV platforms. Peacock Premium will also be available for $4.99 per month on all popular connected devices, as well as an ad-free tier for an additional $5.00 per month. “Now more than ever there is a need for a free quality streaming service that can provide viewers with both the information they need to stay informed and entertainment they seek to escape the moment,” said Matt Strauss, Chairman of Peacock and NBCUniversal Digital Enterprises. “With Peacock, we will deliver many of the best movies and TV shows of our time, as well as timely news and topical programming, and do our part to bring people together through the power of entertainment.”

On Monday, the company announced that Verizon, Subaru, Capital One, Molson Coors and L’Oreal have signed on as launch sponsors, joining previously-announced sponsors Apartments.com, State Farm, Target, and Unilever. Advertising will be restricted to five minutes or less per hour, depending on which ad format the user chooses. Peacock will hold exclusive streaming rights for the 2020 Universal film slate and beyond the network window. A host of new ad innovations are also promised. In a press call, however, Strauss admitted that much of the original programming slate will be delayed into 2021.“The majority of our original productions have been paused,” Strauss said. “This will materially limit our original slate at launch and through 2020.”

Films will include “Fast & Furious 9” and “Jurassic World 3.” There will also be access to Universal’s back catalog and Dick Wolf’s library of “Law & Order” and Chicago franchises. Despite the hit on production, the streamer is still aiming to roll out “Brave New World,” an adaptation of Aldous Huxley’s 1930s novel from Universal Cable Productions and Amblin Television, in the coming months. The service is also aiming to launch the reboots of “Punky Brewster” and “Saved By The Bell” this year, Strauss said. “We’re unclear when exactly things are going to go back to normal and when we’ll be able to pick up where we left off on certain aspects of the original productions.” He added that he was “very, very optimistic” about launching Brave New World, which is “essentially done”, and said that NBCU is “optimistic” about “Punky Brewster” and “Saved By The Bell” being rolled out this year.