Do you currently get Peacock for free? That might be changing soon.
As reported by Variety, NBC Universal has confirmed that it is going to start charging Comcast Xfinity customers for access to Peacock, the company’s streaming service. Up until now, Comcast TV and broadband customers have received access to the ad-supported version of Peacock Premium, which goes for $4.99 per month, at no additional cost.
A spokesperson confirmed to the outlet that, starting on June 23, 2023, those customers will now have to pay to access the service. The company says that transitioning customers will get access to a promotional rate at first, but it would not confirm what that rate will be. New Xfinity customers will also have the opportunity to get the discounted rate after a 6-month free promo.
An NBCU spokesperson confirmed the change to Variety, some details of which were first posted on Reddit. Comcast is beginning to notify customers that in late June Peacock Premium will no longer be included as part of their existing Xfinity service, and that they will be able to purchase a subscription as an add-on at a discounted rate (the price for which is still TBD). As of April 3, new Xfinity customers will be eligible to get Peacock Premium free for six months after which they also will be able to subscribe at the discounted rate.
The news comes about two weeks after Peacock removed its free tier of service. Going forward, the only two tiers of service that will remain are the ad-supported Peacock Premium plan for $4.99 per month and the ad-free Peacock Premium Plus plan for $9.99 per month.
The company is apparently making the shift to paid-only plans across its offerings due to confidence in the desire for its growing content library. According to a source at the company, the Premium tiers are expected to grow to 100,000 hours of content in 2023.
