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It was bound to happen. With the cost of literally everything else skyrocketing, Peacock also needed to raise their rates, and this is the first time they’ve done so since launching in 2020.
Starting on August 17, subscribers to Peacock will start to see the price increase go into effect. Peacock Premium customers will start paying $5.99 per month, while Peacock Premium Plus customers will be paying $11.99 per month. That’s a jump of $1 and $2 respectively. A similar jump to what we saw with Paramount Plus recently.
Comcast, the parent-company of Peacock’s parent-company, NBCUniversal, is confident that a price hike won’t affect its growth. Peacock has seen a 60% year-on-year subscriber increase in the first three months of 2023. Newer numbers aren’t yet available, and won’t be until Comcast does their quarterly earnings.
Prices going up as Peacock continues to add more original content and sports
Of course, no one likes to see prices going up on anything. But with Peacock, it’s more understandable than some other streaming services. With Peacock, NBCUniversal has continued to add more original content and has also been adding a good amount of live sports to the service.
Since it’s launch, Peacock points out, that it has added over 80,000 hours of content. And they believe that this price hike will enable “Peacock to continue to invest in the best user experience and the highest-quality content while remaining competitive in the marketplace.”
While Peacock has gone up in price, it is still one of the cheapest options out there. Apple TV+ is now $6.99 per month, Netflix starts at $8.99 per month, Paramount Plus is also $5.99 per month. So even jumping up a buck for the Premium option, it’s still a pretty good buy for those that like NBCUniversal’s content.
Even with this price increase, NBCUniversal is expected to lose around $3 billion this year alone. Now this is largely due to the Comcast division transitioning to a streamer rather than a broadcast model.