Standing apart from its big streaming competitors, Peacock has been charging the same for its premium plans since the service launched back in 2020, but the Comcast-owned service is about to join the price-hike club.
Starting immediately for new subscribers and on August 17 for existing users, Peacock will raise the price of its ad-supported Premium plan to $5.99 a month, a $1-a-month increase, while the mostly ad-free Premium Plus plan will get a $2/month price hike to $11.99 a month, Deadline reports.
That’s the bad news; luckily, there’s still time to avoid the Peacock price hike if you’re an existing subscriber.
The move marks the very first price increase for Peacock, in contrast to the likes of Disney+, Max, Paramount+, and Netflix, which seem to impose price hikes every other day.
The good news for Peacock is that it now has some original content worth paying (more) for, including such breakout hits as Poker Face and Mrs. Davis.
Peacock subscribers also have 2024 Summer Olympics to look forward to, streamed live from Paris starting later this month, not to mention such mainstays as The Office, Parks and Recreation, Yellowstone, and all the Harry Potter movies.
As Deadline notes, Peacock remains a laggard compared to its biggest streaming competitors, trailing far behind Netflix, Disney+, and Max when it comes to subscription numbers.
That said, the streamer has been showing signs of life. Poker Face with Natasha Lyonne and Mrs. Davis starring Betty Gilpin have been both buzzy and critical hits for Peacock, and people have been tuning in, with the streamer’s 22 million subscribers representing a 60-percent increase over the year prior, as Variety reports.
There had been chatter late last year that Peacock, which at the time appeared to be on the ropes, could be either shuttered or gobbled up by another streaming service.
Once oft-floated scenario was that Comcast might buy Warner Bros. Discovery and then fold Peacock into Max–and apparently, that possibility is still looming.
While Peacock’s new price hike is its first, the streamer has tinkered with its subscription tiers in the past. Most notably, Peacock did away with its free ad-supported plan back in January.
Author: Ben Patterson, Senior Writer
Ben has been writing about technology and consumer electronics for more than 20 years. A PCWorld contributor since 2014, Ben joined TechHive in 2019, where he covers smart speakers, soundbars, and other smart and home-theater devices. You can follow Ben on Twitter.