Peacock has stopped offerings its free tier to new customers. As first reported by The Streamable, potential subscribers who visit Peacock’s website will now only see two ways to access the platform: Peacock Premium and Premium Plus. Either way, if you’re new to Peacock, you’ll need to pay to access the service’s library of content. According to The Streamable, the free tier still exists but is only available to current users who cancel their Premium subscription or those who had access to a paid tier for free (for example, Cox internet customers). NBCUniversal did not immediately respond to Engadget’s comment request.
The Streamable reports the removal is the result of a strategy shift within the company. NBCUniversal plans to release approximately 100,000 hours of new content to Peacock Premium through the end of 2023, including live sports content from the Premier League and Women’s World Cup. The platform’s subscriber total grew to 20 million in 2022, up from 9 million the year before. However, Peacock has yet to generate a profit for NBCUniversal owner Comcast. The company expects the service to start inching toward profitability in 2024. Presumably, it hopes to accelerate that timeline by doubling down on Peacock’s Premium tiers.
To make up for the removal, Peacock is offering a promotion to new subscribers. You can get an annual subscription to the ad-supported Premium tier for $30, down from $50 normally. We’ll update this article with more information when we hear back from NBCUniversal.