NBCUniversal launched Peacock into beta back in April 2020, letting around 32 million Comcast Cable Xfinity Internet users access the full complement of the $4.99-a-month Peacock Premium service for free.
But starting Monday (June 26), the free ride is finally over for most of these cable internet subscribers.
(UPDATED: Comcast and one highly insulted reader took exception to our tongue-in-cheek headline reference, which playfully called some Xfinity Internet customers "freeloaders." Admittedly, taken at face value, that is harsh and unfair. It should be noted that Comcast provided its streaming service to reliable, upstanding, hardworking internet customers who paid their cable bills and their taxes on time. Next TV regrets the misunderstanding and will never try to be funny in headlines again ever.)
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As described on Comcast's new FAQ page, Peacock Premium will “no longer be included at no additional cost for all Xfinity X1 and Flex customers.”
Of course, there are means and ways for these customers to avoid the grisly fate of having to pay $5 a month for recent Universal Pictures theatrical releases, NBC and Bravo TV shows, Paramount’s Yellowstone, original series including Poker Face and Bel-Air, NFL football, Premier League soccer, and the WWE, among other programming.
For one, Xfinity Gigabit customers get Peacock Premium for free for two years. Also, “Diamond” and “Platinum” level Xfinity Rewards customers will receive the streaming service gratis for an undefined length of time.
The rest of the Xfinity Internet customer base — the part that isn’t paying hundreds of dollars a month for high-speed internet — will now need to pay something for Peacock.
In May, Comcast launched a new streaming program bundle for Xfinity Internet customers called Now TV, which combines Peacock Premium and around 40 basic general entertainment-themed cable channels from A&E, AMC, Hallmark and Warner Bros. Discovery, among other conglomerates, for $20 a month.
All other Comcast Cable customers who previously received Peacock Premium with X1 or Flex Service are eligible for a discounted Peacock rate of $2.99 a month for one year if they sign up by August 25.
NBCU ended March with around 21 million paid Peacock customers and has recently made up a lot of ground in terms of getting users to cough up money for the service.
The company officially ended the Peacock free tier at the end of January. That marked a pretty successful transition, given that not too long ago, the vast majority of Peacock users exploited the free tier, and the service was officially classified as a FAST by those in the streaming business eager to label everything by acronym.
It has always been assumed that the bulk of “paid” Peacock users receive the service as part of their cable subscription.
We’ll finally understand Peacock’s true “level” when Comcast delivers second-quarter earnings on July 27.
