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A24 TECHNOLOGY
Saturday 18 January 2020
NBC hopes 'free' makes Peacock stand out in streaming era

By TALI ARBEL to remake sci-fi favorite
AP Technology Writer "Battlestar Galactica."
NEW YORK (AP) — NBCU- And Michael Schur, the
niversal is launching a new creator of "Parks and Rec-
streaming service that will reation" and "The Good
have a large part avail- Place," is producing a
able for free, an approach comedy called "Rutherford
it hopes will resonate with Falls."
people who aren't interest- For TV shows in their first
ed in traditional TV. season, Peacock will let
The service, Peacock, will viewers watch episodes for
debut April 15 for custom- free the day after they air.
ers of Comcast, NBCUni- For shows that have been
versal's parent company. on longer, viewers will need
Everyone else will get it July to pay. The free version also
15, just before the Olym- offers only some of the epi-
pics. sodes of original shows and
There's a free version, a classic favorites.
$5-a-month version with Paying subscribers will also
lots more stuff and a $10 get Premier League soc-
option to remove ads. The cer matches unavailable
prices are in line with what The logo for NBCUniversal's upcoming streaming service, Peacock, is displayed on a computer on TV and late-night shows
many rival services charge. screen on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2020, in New York. from Jimmy Fallon and Seth
The $5 version will be free Associated Press Meyers a few hours early.
for 24 million households The general launch is timed
that get TV subscriptions been tapped into yet," said cable subscriptions. These emphasizing that Peacock to the Olympics, which start
through Cox, or either TV or Sarah Henschel, a media new offerings model them- comes with a free option. July 24 in Tokyo. NBC tele-
internet through Comcast. analyst for IHS Markit. selves on Netflix: a catalog Prices for rivals range from vises them in the U.S.
Those customers can pay Peacock's stated ambitions of movies and TV shows $5 a month (Apple TV Plus Peacock will show the
$5 a month to remove ads. for subscribers are, for now, available whenever and and Quibi with ads) to $15 opening and closing cer-
NBCUniversal hopes to po- smaller than those of rival wherever people want to (HBO Max). emonies before they are
sition Peacock as broad- Disney, however. And not watch, for a monthly fee. Netflix's most popular plan televised in prime time. It
er than the other major everything is immediately They'll have to fight for costs $13. will also have three daily
streaming services already going to Peacock. NBCUni- consumers' attention and Hulu, in which Comcast is shows with Olympics high-
out there. It will soon offer versal will continue to send money. a silent minority owner for lights and other features.
news, sports and reality TV shows and movies it makes All the costs for streaming a few more years, also has NBCUniversal is making at
along with shows and mov- to other companies, too. services add up, and sur- ad and ad-free options, least some of the Olympics
ies — just like a traditional The influx of new streaming veys suggest people don't as will Quibi, an upcom- available for free, but it
broadcast TV network, but services from the country's want to subscribe to all of ing short-video streaming didn't immediately say how
with fewer ads, at five min- biggest tech and entertain- them, especially with many service that's backed by much.
utes an hour. ment companies comes as existing streaming options Hollywood studios. Apple Media analyst Rich Green-
"It's a smart move for them people increasingly turn already, including Netflix, TV Plus, Disney Plus and the field said he considers Pea-
to try to pivot into a new away from watching live Amazon Prime and Hulu. upcoming HBO Max from cock a "digital version of
space that hasn't really network TV and cut their That's why NBCUniversal is AT&T's Warner Media don't a broadcast network" with
have ads at all, though a better consumer experi-
UK psychiatric group cites social AT&T has talked about ence than traditional TV.
having some in the future. That recalls CBS All Access,
media dangers to the young None of them has a free which launched in 2014
option the way Peacock and functions in some ways
will. as a digital version of CBS.
Peacock will have 15,000 It remains a relatively small
LONDON (AP) — Britain’s ulty on adolescence, said research. hours of programming, in- streamer.
Royal College of Psychia- Friday that she has seen in It said a proposed 2% tax cluding original content, Comcast will invest $2 bil-
trists is urging that mam- her practice an increase on UK revenues is insuffi- stuff from the NBC library lion in Peacock in its first
moth tech companies like in self-harm among young cient. like "The Office," which two years of operation,
Facebook and Twitter turn people “as a result of their The father of Molly Rus- leaves Netflix for Peacock and it predicts losing mon-
over research about pos- social media use and on- sell, a 14-year-old girl who in 2021, and shows from ey for years. It says it'll break
sible dangers caused to line discussions.” ended her life in 2017 in a other studios, too, includ- even by the fifth year. It
young people by exces- She said it will be impos- case that attracted wide ing "Two and a Half Men." hopes to have 30 million to
sive social media use. sible for researchers to attention, said he sup- Other standout shows and 35 million U.S. accounts by
The group also calls for understand the risks and ports the proposals. movies include "Jurassic 2024, along with $2.5 billion
higher rates of taxation benefits of social me- Ian Russell said there is an Park," "E.T. the Extra Terres- in revenue.
on these companies, with dia use unless the major “urgent need” for action trial," the "Law and Order" That's small compared with
some of the revenue to companies share their to protect young people. universe and "Keeping Up Disney Plus, which is target-
be used to fund more research data and help He said he had “no doubt with the Kardashians." Not ing 60 million to 90 million
research into how some fund more inquiries. that social medial helped all of Peacock's videos will worldwide subscribers for
young people are being The group of psychiatrists kill my daughter,” after be exclusive. 2024. Comcast hopes to
put at risk of self-harm, wants big tech compa- finding “bleak depressive Original shows will include take Peacock international
suicide and other severe nies taxed on their inter- material, graphic self- a series based on a true- down the road as well and
mental health issues. national turnover, with harm content and suicide- crime podcast that stars make it available to cus-
Dr. Bernadka Dubicka, some of the money ear- encouraging memes” in Alec Baldwin and Christian tomers of other U.S. cable
leader of the group’s fac- marked for mental health her computer.q
Slater. Peacock also plans companies for free.q