NBC s Peacock: Prices Discounts Launch Date Devices Shows And Movies
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Peacock launches across the US on Wednesday.
Angela Lang/CNET
[ Peacock], a streaming service from Comcast-owned NBCUniversal, launches Wednesday across the US, with a seven-day free trial for its premium tiers and an always-free tier that lets you sample about half its library of shows and movies with advertising. [/news/peacock-streams-films-coronavirus-kept-from-theaters-not-so-fast/ Peacock] will have a big catalog, with about 20,000 hours of shows, movies, news, sports, skit-style clips and exclusive big-budget original programming. (It'll also have sitcom 30 Rock available to stream free, starting one day before NBC airs a one-hour [ reunion special] of the award-winning comedy on its network Thursday.)
But, at least so far, it doesn't have deals in place for you to watch it on [ ] devices, and it's [ not looking good] that the company will reach a last-minute deal with them before Wednesday.
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Competing with the likes of [ Netflix], [ Disney Plus], [ HBO Max] and others, Peacock is the last big new service going live in the flood of them launching from tech and media giants over the last year -- though, technically, Peacock has launched already. Peacock kicked off as a "sneak peek" April 15 for some [/tags/comcast/ Comcast] customers only.
But the nationwide launch on Wendesday will widen the service to anyone in the US who wants to watch it, and Peacock's first original shows and movies will drop then too.
A limited version of the service, with about half the catalog, will be free with advertising. You can unlock the full library of shows and movies for a price. If you preorder an annual subscription before launch, you can get a $20 discount for the first year. It will launch with a standard seven-day free trial for its premium tiers, and people who sign up on a Google platform like Android after launch can snag an extended free trial until October.
Read more: [/news/hulu-vs-peacock-which-streaming-service-is-best-for-you/ Hulu vs. Peacock: Which streaming service is best for you?]
And Peacock is working on deals, like ones it already has with parent company Comcast and with Cox Communications, to bundle Peacock Premium with their cable services as a no-added-cost perk. (Full details on deals, free trials and discounts for Peacock are below.)
Because of the [ coronavirus pandemic], however, several plans for [/news/nbc-peacock-psuedo-launches-tomorrow-as-sneak-peek-on-comcast/ Peacock]'s wider rollout were upended. Filming production of original programming is largely shut down now, and the plan to piggyback Peacock's national launch on [/tags/nbc/ NBC's] live coverage of the summer Olympics is moot now that the games have been pushed back to 2021. So when Peacock does launch in July across the US, it won't be precisely what NBC envisioned.
But the service will have a number of new original shows and movies to watch Wednesday. Peacock's launch slate of originals available includes [ Brave New World], which is Peacock's marquee sci-fi drama adapting Aldous Huxley's novel, and a [ Psych movie sequel]. (More details on the full launch slate below, too.)
