“World’s Finest Comics” was a long-running DC Comics comic book published from 1941 to 1986. Initially, it was an anthology book featuring separate Superman and Batman stories. However, in 1954, reduced page counts saw DC merge the two characters into a single story, which proved to be successful. Said team-ups ran (save a brief change in the early 70s) until the book’s cancellation.
The slogan for the “World’s Finest” stories was “your two favorite heroes in one adventure together!” (We’ll ignore that Robin was also a mainstay in the earliest stories, technically making it three heroes.) Modern stories still team up Superman and Batman, usually in books generically titled “Superman/Batman” (or some variant).
Why the comic trivia? News came out last week that Apple TV and Peacock will now be offered as a bundle at a discount, starting October 20. Combining Apple TV and Peacock could be described (to paraphrase the “World’s Finest Comics” slogan) as “your two favorite secondary streaming services in one bundle together!” Said bundle costs $15 (for Peacock with ads) or $20 (for Peacock without ads; Apple TV is already ad-free). By themselves, Peacock costs $11 a month (with ads) or $17 a month (without ads), while Apple TV costs $13 a month.
Apple TV
Apple TV offers some quality content, such as “Ted Lasso,” “Severance,” and even Academy Award winning movies. However, Apple TV’s catalog is smaller than other streaming services, and that might make it hard to justify as a subscription. (Maybe one reason Apple’s finally relented on joining up with a non-Apple service as a bundle.)
If wondering, I didn’t leave the plus symbol off by mistake. As of last week, Apple TV+ changed its name to “Apple TV” with little fanfare. Or regard to how confusing that looks: you can now use Apple TV (the app or streaming device) to watch Apple TV the streaming service. Even if having “plus” at the end of a streaming service name is now a cliché, I don’t think this helps Apple TV’s brand identity. It also feels a bit late into Apple TV’s lifespan to make such a minor change.
For animation fans, as I’ve noted before, there’s not much reason to subscribe to Apple TV unless you’re a “Peanuts” fan, as Apple TV’s the exclusive home of that franchise. Apple TV’s smallish catalog extends to its animation offerings; still, a few noteworthy non-”Peanuts” cartoons include spin-offs of children’s books “Harriet the Spy” and “Frog and Toad,” plus adult animated sitcom “Central Park.”
Peacock
I’ve written about Peacock before, but based on subscriber counts, it’s the least popular of the biggest streaming services (Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Disney+, HBO Max, Paramount+, Apple TV, and Peacock). While Peacock has its fans, unless you’re a sports fan, a fan of a specific NBC/Universal franchise, or a fan of “Yellowstone”/WWE wrestling, it’s always felt like an optional service versus a must-have. The fact Peacock’s lost content in recent months (Hallmark, some WWE content) and raised prices doesn’t help.
From an animation standpoint, Peacock’s the de facto home of the DreamWorks and Illumination catalogs (“Despicable Me,” “Shrek,” etc.), though some of it’s also available on Netflix. Peacock’s also got a few holiday specials, including several Rankin-Bass Christmas specials and “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”
I currently have Peacock, since it’s available for free as a longtime Comcast broadband customer. My main usage of it’s for sports, plus the occasional movie. It’s also often on sale during Black Friday, for those that don’t want or care about Apple TV.
Conclusion
Do you have any interest in the Apple TV/Peacock bundle? Or just interested in (or subscribe to) one or the other?
Image: Apple TV and Peacock. (Apple/Peacock)
