Peacock brings bad news to his subscribers tonight. As of noon EDT, the streamer is notifying existing customers that it will increase its subscription prices on August 17. The change has an immediate impact on new customers. This will be the first time Peacock has experienced a price hike since launch.
Users must pay $5.99 per month for Premium (ad-supported), up from $4.99. Meanwhile, Premium Plus (ad-free) gets an increase from $2 to $11.99 per month.
The reason for the change, the company claims, is so it can continue to invest in delivering high-quality content and user experience.
The price increase also allows Peacock to remain competitive in the market, as rivals like Netflix and Max charge upwards of $19.99 per month. Last year, Apple TV+ increased the subscription cost to $6.99/month.
In addition, Paramount+ recently increased its advertising plan to $5.99/month and its new ad-free tier, Paramount+ with Showtime, to $11.99. While Peacock will be the same price as Paramount+, the streaming service doesn’t exactly have dozens of Showtime originals to brag about.
However, the streamer does praise its live sports offering, calling it the largest of any direct-to-consumer streaming service in the US, with more than 5,000 hours of content. This includes the Women’s World Cup, Sunday Night Football, Premier League, Big 10 and more.
Peacock also offers subscribers daily live news, 24/7 streaming channels and original titles “Poker Face”, “Mrs. Davis”, “The Continental”, “Bel-Air”, “Dr. Death”, “Based on a true story” and “Bupkis.” It is also the only premium streamer with next-day access to all new shows from NBC and Bravo.
Since launching in 2020, Peacock has released more than 80,000 hours of content, according to the company.
The price hike comes on the heels of the company reporting $704 million in losses in the first quarter of 2023, up from $456 million in the same period a year ago.
To turn a profit, Peacock has moved away from its free offering and removed the option for new customers. Also, the ad-supported tier is no longer bundled at no additional cost to Xfinity customers.