Here's How Peacock Can Thrive
Breaking down what Comcast's streaming service has done well and what it should do next
Welcome:
Welcome back to State of Play! It’s hot out there and I hope you’re staying cool. But as the weather heats up in a year that is directly divisible by four, you know what lies on the horizon. An election that reminds you of how dystopian this country has become The Summer Olympics!
Of course, Peacock is the streaming home of all things Olympiad, and with the games less than a month away, let’s dive into why Peacock exists and where it should go next.
One Big Trend: Maybe The Bronze Medal is Fine!
Photo by Melanie Hughes on Unsplash
This is part of our ongoing series looking at each individual streaming service and trying to determine its purpose. We previously discussed Hulu here.
Peacock always stood out among the streaming services. When it launched it had a very unique three-tiered structure. It had a free tier with ads that featured some content, but not everything. A middle tier offered all of the service’s content, but kept the ads. A final tier gave users everything on Peacock and no ads.
While that structure has changed – there is no longer a free version – there is plenty that has stayed that makes Peacock unique. Peacock still offers “channels” a substitute for those who miss scrolling through a grid. They have a deep library of NBCUniversal content, including reality TV from Bravo that stands as some of the service’s best offerings. They have NBC Sports content, giving them the Olympics, the Premier League, and the ability to stream Sunday Night Football, the number one show in Primetime for years now. They also have a strong partnership with WWE that makes them the home of the wrestling company’s major events. I can assure you that WWE brings a significant population to the viewership.
The service has never been seen as one of the top tier offerings. While the Bravo shows do numbers it has not had many hits that have penetrated culture. Notable exceptions include Poker Face and The Traitors. The Office was famously the most streamed show when it was on Netflix, but did not sustain that status when it went to Peacock. Suits, on the other hand, did ok on Peacock but then took off like a rocket when it went over to Netflix. Being the “other service” in stories like this is not a good look.
All that being said, Peacock has experienced consistent growth and maintained a steady presence. It regularly hovers around 1% of total US viewership on The Gauge. It made news as the first streamer to have an exclusive NFL Playoff game – a $110 million gamble that appears to have worked – and it has regularly grown its subscriber base, which now sits at 34 million. However, it does not appear to be nearing profitability.
So what should Comcast do with Peacock?
Currently, Peacock sits as a well established “also ran”. It’s not a disappointment and it has flourishes of strength, but there’s more it could do. The first step is the most boring; it should shore up its bundling strategy. There is no doubt that Comcast’s decision to bundle Peacock with its Xfinity Internet service did wonders, and its new bundle with Netflix and Apple TV+ is a wise extension of that strategy. Peacock may never be the number one service, but with the right partners it’s not difficult to see it being a very worthwhile add-on. The bronze medal isn’t so bad!
Second, they need to do more with live sports and WWE. NBCU’s USA Network lost Monday Night Raw to Netflix. Peacock cannot lose all of WWE’s Premium Live Events in the same way, or they will suffer a significant subscriber loss, probably a few million people.
The bigger deal, though, is around the NBA. If NBCU does indeed snatch the NBA from Warner Bros. Discovery, Peacock must have a significant presence in the deal. As viewers continue to shift to streaming, sports’ presence on the platforms will be more important. The NBA is a hot property and carries a great deal of cultural cache, Peacock should secure the rights and then push it hard.
Lastly, it should keep doing what it does best, reality TV. Sure Traitors came from somewhere else, but NBCU execs knew their audience on Peacock would love the show and they knew how to match their talent to it in a way that has made it a hit. Reality TV is a key part of TV viewership. It’s good to have hits and chase prestige. Please, keep making Poker Face! It’s also good to do what you know and ensure you’re focusing on what you’re great at. Peacock should work to solidify its place atop the reality TV mountain.
Why should you care?: Peacock is a model for how to succeed as an underdog. It has always made scrappy, interesting decisions that have differentiated it and made it worth subscribing to. To stay relevant and alive, it needs to get very comfortable with what it is and double down on that identity.
Wrestling Fact of the Week:
John Cena has been in the WWE for over 20 years. Last Saturday, he announced he would be retiring after next year. While he has been a special attraction for the past few years, only showing up here and there for big matches or events, he committed to being around for the entire year next year and appearing over 30 times, according to a press conference he did after his announcement. More to come on this front, but Cena is definitely one of the greatest of all time, and it should be really cool to see how his last year plays out.
Have a great rest of your week.