Peacock Streaming Service To Raise Subscription Prices by $2 Before Summer Olympics

Ahead of the Olympics in Paris, Comcast’s NBCUniversal plans to raise the monthly subscription price of its streaming service, Peacock, by $2 this summer. This move serves as the company’s way to leverage the global sports event for increased revenue.

Peacock’s ad-supported subscription will see a $2 hike to $7.99 monthly, and its ad-free tier will also go up by $2 to $13.99 monthly. The annual rate for Peacock with ads will be $79.99, while the ad-free version will cost $139.99 annually.

New subscribers will experience the price increase starting on July 18, while existing customers will see the new pricing applied after Aug. 17. This specific timing coincides with the Summer Olympics, which kick off in late July.

Media companies have long been exploring avenues to establish profitable streaming services, especially since many platforms are still functioning at a loss. Advertising has been a major part of this strategy, alongside hiking prices.

This is the second time Peacock has raised its prices in the past year. In August of last year, the price of ad-supported Peacock rose by $1 to $5.99 per month, while the ad-free version increased by $2 to a monthly rate of $11.99.

Despite parent company Comcast highlighting Peacock as a positive aspect during its recent earnings call, losses from the streaming service have impacted overall earnings. These losses reportedly hit their highest point in 2023. However, executives anticipate a reduction in the coming quarters. Peacock currently has 34 million subscribers.

On its platform, Peacock has a variety of live sports content — including the NFL and Premier League games —and it typically experiences an increase in subscribers during big events.

The streaming service came to the market in 2020, in line with the Summer Olympics in Tokyo. However, the event was pushed back to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Executives announced on Thursday that Peacock’s exclusive NFL Wild Card game in the first quarter not only attracted more customers than anticipated but also helped in retaining them.

The streaming platform also saw recent benefits by being the debut streaming home to Universal Pictures’ acclaimed and successful film “Oppenheimer.”

Peacock’s first-quarter revenue increased by 54% to $1.1 billion compared to the same quarter the year before. This rise was driven partially by a boost in advertising revenue. On the flip side, this growth saw a recent slowdown in advertising revenue for traditional TV networks.