With a Peacock Price Hike Set, Here’s What NBCU Should Do Next

Peacock announced price hikes Monday that will raise its ad-supported monthly subscription tier by $1 and its mostly ad-free Premium Plus tier by $2 to $11.99. But maybe thats not the only move NBCU needs to make involving its streaming service.

These are the first increases since the NBCUniversal streamers launch. The $11.99-per-month tier puts Peacocks ad-free offering in line with what Paramount+ charges for the same, though both services still cost $1 more than the ad-free tier for Disney+.

If you were paying attention to Comcasts announcement of NBCUniversals restructuring, this was inevitable. While president Mike Cavanagh made sure to highlight Peacocks subscriber growth, he left streaming out of the section of his statement where he praised the business sectors propelling profitability at Comcast, none of which were streaming media.

Cavanagh did praise the company as having the right business strategy for the future before getting into Peacocks $2 billion in annual revenue, which seems like a lot but downplayed the $704 million in the streamers losses during the first quarter of 2023, which nearly doubled year over year. Peacock is still a more minor player in U.S. streaming viewership, with Nielsen ranking it eighth for June 2023, behind Max and Tubi.

Susan Rovner, who had been instrumental in crafting programming strategy at Peacock, was announced to be leaving NBCUniversal, as film chief Donna Langley was given oversight of TV as well.

Since excessive programming expenses stemming from Peacock remain the culprit behind those losses, theres at least one unexpected silver lining that could help Cavanaghs right business strategy line ring true if the company takes a cue from Paramount Global.

After Fox last week unveiled a new fall slate devoted to non-scripted programming (sans animated comedy), just before SAG-AFTRA announced their strike alongside the WGAs, CBS on Monday revealed its fall lineup would utilize scripted programming across Paramount Globals offerings. Cable hit Yellowstone will now make its broadcast debut on the network, alongside additional programing from streamer Paramount+.

NBC did announce its fall schedule in May, shortly after the initial WGA strike began, presenting a lineup that still included a few scripted dramas. But with two guilds striking concurrently, adjustments to that schedule are bound to be made.

Peacock has a plethora of recent crime dramas, including A Friend of the Family and The Calling, to supplement the absence of Dick Wolf procedurals at NBC until the strikes end. Likewise, there is just as much original comedy on Peacock as there is drama, with familiar faces such as Pete Davidson and Craig Robinson from popular NBC programming leading their own sitcoms.

If these companies are already taking big hits from their streaming investment Paramount Global saw a companywide loss in Q1 theres no reason not to make the most of these programs existence if their broadcast efforts are in jeopardy as well.