We’ve finally reached the climax of the streaming wars. More streaming services may come along, others might merge, but the heavy hitters are all out now, and I’m already exhausted. However,Peacock, the new offering from NBCUniversal, which is owned by Comcast, is an odd duck even among streamers. For starters, it’s an odd hybrid of TV shows and movies that are owned by Universal and run on NBC, but they’ve also got shows and movies that come from other studios and networks (click here for a full listof all the movies and shows on Peacock)
Obviously, at a free tier, Peacock is “worth” it because it’s free. It hasn’t cost you anything, and if you’re comfortable with the amount of ads served up in the middle of your entertainment viewing, then go for it. Personally, I think that’s not a winning strategy when established streamers like Netflix and Prime Video have made viewers accustomed to life without ads. Customers have shown that they’re willing to pay more for an ad-free experience as long as the content is worth it, and that’s where Peacock runs into trouble.
To be fair, Peacock has some terrific movies on its service. They wisely put their “Rotten Tomatoes-Approved” section right at the top so you can marvel at popular titles likeDo the Right Thing,The Matrix,Gosford Park, andDead Ringers. That’s not to mention some valuable older titles like the Universal Monsters Collection (which you won’t find anywhere else unless you buy the Blu-ray set) orAlfred Hitchcockmovies likeVertigoandPsycho. I ended up adding a handful of titles to my Watchlist. How I access that Watchlist is a mystery because the user interface is a mess. I looked for it on PC and on Xbox One, and couldn’t find it anywhere.
When you start digging through the A-Z of the movies or the TV sections, you see that there’s been no curation whatsoever here. The press release boasts “More than 20,000 hours of premium content”, but when you start browsing, you see a lot of filler and not a lot of killer. Sure, it’s great that the TV side has shows like30 Rock,Cheers, andFraiser, but they also have short-lived shows likeSunnysideandPerfect Harmony. A randomizer and collection feature for popular shows likeSaturday Night LiveandParks and Recreationis all well and good, but at some point Peacock is hoping that you just stay on an ad-supported carousel of the same 5-7 shows and a handful of movies.
Digging through everything Peacock had to offer, I couldn’t help but feel like it was both compromised and inflated. Once you negotiate past what you’re willing to pay for all this content, you see that there’s not much content here, or at least nothing that demands a payout. Like other streamers, Peacock promises new content, but the problem is just that—everyone is offering new content. At some point, quality ceases to be a concern, and people will be okay with missing out because they’re already so overwhelmed with what they’re watching on another streaming service. If you’re already paying $11/month for ad-free Hulu to watchThe Handmaid’s Tale, do you really want to pay another $10/month to Peacock so you don’t miss out on the newBattlestar Galactica? Maybe that calculus is worth it, but the problem with all these streamers is that the costs ad up, and nothing I’ve seen from Peacock screams to me that it’s an essential streaming service.
Of course, maybe that all changes. One thing that’s worth noting is that streaming contracts are a mess right now, so while you may be baffled as to why Universal, which makes theFast & Furiousmovies only has oneFast & Furiousmovie on Peacock, give it some time and you’ll probably get the whole collection on this one service. And perhaps as those streaming contracts work out, Peacock won’t have to rely so heavily on direct-to-VOD titles likeAirplane vs. VolcanoandGeo-Disaster.
