Peacock Increases Its Subscription Prices On August 17

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Peacock brings bad news to his subscribers tonight. As of 12 p.m. EDT, the streamer will notify existing customers that it will increase its subscription prices on August 17th. The change will impact new customers immediately. This is the first time Peacock has seen a price increase since its launch.

Users must pay $5.99 per month for Premium (ad-supported) instead of $4.99. Meanwhile, Premium Plus (ad-free) is increasing by $2 to $11.99 per month.

The reason for the change, according to the company, is so that it can continue to invest in providing quality content and user experience.

The price hike will also allow Peacock to remain competitive in the market, as rivals like Netflix and Max charge upwards of $19.99 per month. Last year Apple TV+ increased its subscription cost to $6.99/month.

Also, Paramount+ recently increased its advertising plan to $5.99/month and its new ad-free tier, Paramount+ with Showtime, to $11.99. While Peacock will be priced the same as Paramount+, the streaming service doesn’t exactly have dozens of Showtime Originals to brag about.

However, the streamer advertises its live sports offering, which it describes as the largest of any direct-to-consumer streaming service in the US, with over 5,000 hours of content. These include the Women’s World Cup, Sunday Night Football, Premier League, Big 10 and more.

Peacock also offers subscribers daily live news, 24/7 streaming channels and original titles like “Poker Face”, “Mrs. Davis”, “The Continental”, “Bel-Air”, “Dr. “Death”, “Based on a true story” and “Bupkis”. It’s also the only premium streamer with next-day access to all new shows from NBC and Bravo.

According to the company, Peacock has published more than 80,000 hours of content since its launch in 2020.

The price increase follows the company reporting losses of $704 million in the first quarter of 2023, up from $456 million in the same period last year.

In order to turn a profit, Peacock abandoned its free offer and removed the option for new customers. Also, the ad-supported tier is no longer bundled at no additional cost for Xfinity customers.