Peacock will soon be charging consumers more to admire its plumage.The Comcast-owned streaming service is hiking its subscription rates by $3 starting next week, Peacock confirmed.Beginning on July 23, new and returning subscribers will pay $10.99 a month for Peacock Premium and $16.99 a month for Premium Plus.Peacock Premium is the platform's ad-supported subscription option, while Premium Plus is ad-free and comes with access to live programming from NBC channels, along with the ability to download certain content for offline viewings. The platform's annual subscription rates will increase by $30 to $109.99 for Peacock Premium and to $169.99 for Premium Plus. Comcast, a media and technology company, also owns NBCUniversal, NBC, Telemundo and local TV stations, while its international media outlets includes Sky Sports. Peacock subscribers will see the new rates applied on or after August 22 based on their billing cycle, according to the streaming provider.
The platform is also testing out a cheaper tier called "Select" that will feature current seasons of programming on NBC and Bravo and access to a "broad" library of titles, Peacock said.The Select tier will be priced at $7.99 a month and $79.99 a year.As of the end of its first quarter, Peacock had 41 million paid subscribers, up from 34 million in the year-ago period, according to a securities filing. The price hikes follow the success of NBC programming such as reality dating series "Love Island USA" and the "Real Housewives" franchise on Bravo, as well as live sporting events, according to Peacock.As of June, 46% of Americans watch TV and movies over streaming platforms, compared with roughly 23% on cable and 18% on legacy broadworks, according Nielsen.
"Consumers are now spending more time each day streaming TV than watching broadcast and cable TV combined," Richard Greenfield, a media analyst with research firm LightShed Partners, said in a report. ...