Peacock launched five years ago this month. Comcast’s own streaming service, it’s one of the numerous entrants in the “streaming wars,” featuring the NBC/Universal library, plus DreamWorks and Illumination animated fare.
Below is my look back at the streaming service.
Peacock over the years
I wrote reviews about Peacock in 2021 and 2023. Peacock has had a few changes over the years, though much of it is still similar to when it first launched.
To quote from the 2023 review, the reason why “Peacock” is named such (as the name saw a lot of juvenile remarks at launch):
Despite the mixed (and juvenile) reactions the streaming service’s name has received, “Peacock” refers to the bird that’s been NBC’s logo since 1956 (as well as the actual bird species, specifically the name for male peafowls). The peacock was chosen to promote NBC’s color broadcasting lineup. As such, an animated opening bumper ran before NBC’s color shows, proclaiming them as “brought to you in living color.” (CBS and ABC had similar bumpers before their color programs.) The peacock bumper ran until the early 70s, when color TV sales finally eclipsed black-and-white sales, though NBC’s primetime lineup had switched to all-color by 1966.
The Peacock streaming service, reflecting all of this, uses multicolored dots as part of its logo.
One change is that it’s dropped its free streaming tier, switching to a paid-only service. That said, I still get Peacock for free, as a long-time Comcast broadband customer. On the plus side, it’s fairly affordable; currently, Peacock costs $8 a month for the ad-based tier, or $14 a month for the ad-free tier. It’s also occasionally on sale, including for Black Friday.
Another change is Peacock adding live streaming of one’s local NBC affiliate as part of the ad-free tier, which is a much welcome change. It also put Peacock more on par with its similar rival Paramount+. Or at least they’re rivals in most of the world; in parts of Europe, the two run a joint service combining the two, “SkyShowtime.”
Pro wrestling has been one of Peacock’s stronger points since it gained WWE rights in 2021. However, since then, some of Peacock’s wrestling exclusivity has waned, with Netflix gaining the rights to stream live “WWE Raw.”
In 2022, Peacock gained the rights to the Hallmark lineup, including a catalog of its rom-coms, as well as live streaming the various Hallmark cable channels. Unfortunately, Hallmark left Peacock at the end of April, since Hallmark relaunched its own streaming service as “Hallmark+.”
Peacock’s also become the US streaming home for the annual Eurovision Song Contest.
The Olympics also has made a home on Peacock. While NBC is still, well, NBC, Peacock’s managed to make up for the weaker aspects of NBC’s coverage: live streams of all events are offered, including the opening and closing ceremonies. Unfortunately, the opening and closing ceremonies still reflect NBC’s flaws: lots of ad breaks (though the 2024 Summer Olympics had an “ad-free hour”) and NBC’s announcers’ sometimes-inane commentary.
On the negative sports coverage side, there’s that time in early 2024 when Comcast forced NFL fans to get a Peacock subscription to watch a streaming-exclusive playoff game.
Peacock’s current state and future
Peacock has 41 million subscribers as of March 2025, which puts it last among the major streaming services (Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Paramount+, Apple TV+, and Peacock). Even Apple TV+ has more subscribers, with an estimated 45 million users. While Peacock’s grown its subscriber base since its launch, it’s never eclipsed its aforementioned rivals in popularity; if any service was going to “lose” the “streaming wars” and shut down, I always assumed it’d be Peacock.
That said, Comcast is still dedicated to Peacock. Comcast plans to spin off their cable networks into their own company, while Peacock (along with NBC and Bravo) will stay with Comcast.
Peacock does have its fans. Gaining the rights to the WWE and “Yellowstone” has helped; a few Peacock originals, such as “Poker Face,” have gained attention; finally, there’s the popular Bravo reality shows.
Peacock is probably best for:
- “Yellowstone” fans.
- Those that need NBC (or their local affiliate) and can’t get it over-the-air.
- Sports fans. Peacock will get NBA basketball this fall, alongside its usual sports staples of “Sunday Night Football” and Premier League soccer.
- WWE wrestling fans.
- Fans of a specific NBC/Universal franchise (Bravo reality shows, Universal horror films, classic Universal films, etc.).
- DreamWorks/Illumination fans (though Netflix has much of those libraries).
- Those that get Peacock on sale (Black Friday, etc.).
Hallmark fans will have to turn to Hallmark+ for their rom-coms. Another option is the free ad-supported “Hallmark Movies and More” channel on Pluto TV and the Roku Channel.
Overall, while Peacock isn’t a “must have” service on the level of Netflix, It might be worth considering, depending on the price and/or one’s interests.
Image: Peacock main page. (Comcast)
