You don’t have to pay for Peacock Free package, but you will have to for the Premium, and Premium Plus packages.
In the ever-growing market of paid subscription video-on-demand services, there is continually a new platform introduced aimed at capturing its own niche in the saturated market.
One of the latest on-demand streaming platforms to have been introduced is NBCUniversal’s Peacock. Unlike most of the video-on-demand services that offer even the most basic subscription at a fee, Peacock is different.
This is as their most basic subscription channel is free, and the two other packages are offered at a reasonable fee in comparison to other popular platforms in the streaming service industry.
Where is Peacock available?
Peacock was officially introduced in July 2020, and since then, the platform has earned a sizable number of subscribers.
In April 2022, the platform reported having over 28 million active accounts and over 13 million paid subscribers. These numbers are impressive, considering that the platform has yet to start infiltrating international markets.
Currently, the hybrid subscription video-on-demand platform is only available in the US and a number of other US territories including American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Do you have to pay for Peacock?
Peacock is a hybrid subscription video-on-demand streaming service, which means the platform not only offers paid subscription packages, but also offers a free subscription package.
Peacock has made the free subscription package available with limited content for viewers who choose the package.
Specifically, the Free package offers over 7 500 hours of ad-supported content which includes next-day access to episodes of first-year NBC shows and a rotating line-up of classic films and television series.
Furthermore, you can stream from three devices simultaneously on this package, with the added benefit of being able to create up to six profiles on one account.
Although, there are limitations to the Free package. Firstly, the package does not enable the 4K UHD viewing experience for the content available.
Secondly, you cannot download episodes of shows, documentaries, or movies to watch offline from your smartphone or tablet devices. Lastly, the Free package does not offer live sport event streaming as the other packages available from Peacock do.
But if you are looking for the aforementioned benefits and the additional option to watch “commercial-free” content via Peacock, it would be better for you to look at the other subscription packages that the streaming service offers.
These are the Premium and Premium Plus packages. Each package expands on the benefits of the Free package at a reasonable price point when you compare the cost of Peacock to other leading paid subscription services in the market.
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How much is Peacock’s Premium package?
Peacock’s Premium package is the second-tier subscription package that the platform offers viewers.
The package is ad-supported, but instead of the 7 500 hours of limited content that the Free package offers, the Premium package offers viewers access to the platform’s entire on-demand library including next-day access to episodes of popular NBC shows.
Moreover, the package includes 4K UHD viewing and allows the streaming of live sporting events. Similarly to the Free subscription package, though, it does not offer offline downloads of its content.
The cost of a Premium subscription is $9.99 per month with a 7-day free trial period.
How much is Peacock’s Premium Plus package?
Initially called the Commercial-Free package, Peacock’s Premium Plus subscription package is the platform’s top-tier subscription package.
The package offers all of the benefits of the Premium package including 4K UHD viewing, and the ability to live stream sporting events.
Moreover, this package allows subscribers to download episodes from television shows, documentaries, and movies that they can watch offline. However, the downloads can only be done through the Peacock app and not on a desktop or PC.
For Peacock Premium Plus subscription, you will pay $9.99 per month, following a 7-day free trial period.
Why did Peacock change its Commercial-Free package?
Before it was called Peacock’s Premium Plus, it was called the Commercial-Free package. However, the name was factually incorrect as the package still included promotional content with subscribers.
Therefore, to suggest that the package was “commercial-free” was not untrue. The promotional content is different from the commercials in the ad-supported packages, specifically because the commercials are of shows available on the platform.
However, keeping the initial name would have resulted in continued backlash for the platform, as they would be required to continually explain that the commercials are because of “streaming rights.”