Peacock (streaming service) facts for kids
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| Type of business | Limited liability company |
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Type of site
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Streaming service |
| Available in | English |
| Founded | April 15, 2020 |
| Predecessor(s) | Seeso (2016–2017) |
| Headquarters |
,
U.S.
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| Country of origin | United States |
| Area served | As an independent streaming service: United States Through Sky and Now: Austria, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Switzerland, and United Kingdom Through SkyShowtime: Andorra, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Kosovo, Montenegro, Netherlands, Nordics, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain Through Universal+: Latin America Through JioHotstar: India Through HBO Max: Latin America, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand |
| Owner | NBCUniversal (Comcast) |
| CEO | Kelly Campbell |
| Key people | |
| Industry | Entertainment |
| Parent | NBCUniversal Direct-to-Consumer and Digital Enterprises |
| IPv6 support | Yes |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Registration | Required |
| Users |  41 million paid subscribers (as of March 2025[update]) |
| Launched | July 15, 2020 |
| Current status | Operating |
| Written in | JavaScript, Java, C++, Rust |
Peacock is a popular American streaming service. It is owned by Comcast through its entertainment company, NBCUniversal. Peacock offers many TV shows and movies from NBCUniversal, along with content from other companies. It also creates its own original series and films.
The service launched on July 15, 2020. It is a main place to watch sports from NBC Sports and Telemundo Deportes. Peacock shows live sports events that are also on NBC and Telemundo. It also has extra sports coverage not seen on regular TV. You can also find WWE professional wrestling shows, including old matches and live events.
Peacock first offered free, "Premium," and "Premium Plus" plans. The free plan had limited content. The Premium Plus plan offered ad-free viewing and live streaming of NBC channels. Since January 2023, new customers can no longer sign up for the free plan. By January 2025, Peacock had 41 million paid subscribers.
Contents
Discovering Peacock's Story
On January 14, 2019, NBCUniversal announced plans for a new streaming service. It would offer both new shows and older favorites. The service would have free options with ads and paid options without ads.
On September 17, 2019, the service was named "Peacock." This name was a nod to the famous NBC logo. Peacock shared details about its first original shows. These included Angelyne, Dr. Death, Rutherford Falls, and One of Us Is Lying. It also brought back popular shows like Punky Brewster and Saved by the Bell. Popular NBC sitcoms like The Office and Parks and Recreation also moved exclusively to Peacock in 2020 and 2021.
Peacock first became available to some Comcast customers on April 15, 2020. It then launched for everyone across the country on July 15, 2020.
By August 2021, over 54 million people had signed up for Peacock. In April 2022, it had 28 million active accounts each month and 13 million paid subscribers. This was a big increase! By December 2022, Peacock reached 20 million paid subscribers. Its Spanish-language coverage of the 2022 FIFA World Cup helped boost these numbers.
In January 2024, Peacock gained 3 million new subscribers. This happened because of its exclusive National Football League playoff game. This game became the most-streamed event in U.S. history, with 23 million viewers. In April 2024, WrestleMania XL became Peacock's most-streamed entertainment event. In August 2024, Peacock added 2.8 million subscribers during the first week of the 2024 Summer Olympics. Before the Olympics, Peacock had 33 million paid subscribers.
How to Watch Peacock
As of August 2025, Peacock offers different ways to watch. These include "Select," "Premium," and "Premium Plus" plans. The Premium plans require a subscription and give you access to all of Peacock's content. The Select plan offers a smaller selection of shows. The Select and Premium plans include ads, but they are limited to about five minutes per hour.
You can upgrade to the ad-free Premium Plus plan for an extra monthly cost. In January 2023, Peacock stopped offering a free plan for new users. Only paid plans are now available, though existing users can still access the free plan if their Premium subscription ends.
Peacock is available on many devices. These include iOS devices and Apple TV, PlayStation 4, Roku, Samsung smart TVs, Amazon Fire TV, and Amazon Fire tablets. In April 2023, a Peacock app also launched for Meta Quest virtual reality headsets.
In July 2025, Peacock updated its prices. The Premium plan became $10.99 per month, and Premium Plus became $16.99 per month. Peacock also introduced a new "Select" tier for $7.99 per month. This tier includes some library content and current NBC and Bravo shows, but no live sports.
What You Can Watch on Peacock
Peacock's content mostly comes from the NBCUniversal family. This includes movies from Universal Pictures and TV shows from Universal Television. At launch, it had at least 15,000 hours of content available without a subscription. Premium subscribers got an extra 5,000 hours. New episodes of NBC series are available on Peacock the day after they air for Premium subscribers. Other viewers can watch them a week later.
Peacock also has about 25 special digital channels. These channels feel like traditional TV channels. They feature long shows and content from NBCUniversal's TV networks. Examples include Today All Day, an extension of NBC's morning show Today.
In July 2021, Universal decided to bring its movies to Peacock. This meant that after showing in theaters, Universal films would come to Peacock. They are available exclusively on Peacock for the first and last four months of an 18-month period. Other streaming services might show them in between. It was later announced that films could come to Peacock as soon as 45 days after their theater release.
In January 2022, Telemundo, NBC's Spanish-language sister network, launched TPlus. This is a special section on Peacock Premium for Spanish-language shows. It launched in time for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
In May 2022, Universal Pictures moved three films to Peacock for 2023. These included Shooting Stars (about LeBron James), Praise This (a youth choir movie), and a remake of The Killer.
In August 2022, NBC's long-running soap opera Days of Our Lives moved exclusively to Peacock Premium. This happened after 57 years on NBC. Also, next-day streaming of Bravo shows moved to Peacock.
Live streaming of local NBC stations became available for Premium Plus subscribers on November 30, 2022. This feature was available in 210 markets.
Original Shows and Movies
Peacock creates many of its own shows and movies. You can find a full list at List of Peacock original programming.
Other Shows and Movies
Peacock also licenses content from other companies. Lionsgate and Warner Bros. Television (like Two and a Half Men and George Lopez) have licensed shows. You can also watch Yellowstone from Paramount Network and The Matrix films. A&E Networks also licensed shows from its A&E and History channels. The Harry Potter films were on Peacock from October 2020 to August 2021, before moving to HBO Max.
Paramount Skydance (formerly ViacomCBS) licensed shows like Everybody Hates Chris and Ray Donovan to Peacock. Peacock also showed some Paramount Pictures films for a limited time.
In May 2021, NBCUniversal acquired the U.S. streaming rights for the Eurovision Song Contest. This deal started with the 2021 event. The streaming rights were renewed for 2023.
On October 31, 2022, Peacock Premium added a special section for Hallmark Media content. This included shows and movies from Hallmark Channel, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, and Hallmark Drama. However, this agreement ended in April 2025. A similar deal with Reelz (including true crime shows like On Patrol: Live) was announced in February 2023. But the live Reelz channel is sometimes blacked out on Peacock when it shows MLW Underground Wrestling, due to a conflict with WWE content.
WWE Content on Peacock
On January 25, 2021, NBCUniversal gained the exclusive U.S. rights to the WWE Network streaming service. This content became available on Peacock starting March 18, 2021. Peacock has a special WWE channel. It offers some WWE content for free users. Premium subscribers get access to the full WWE library. This includes original shows, old matches, and all live pay-per-view events. Some older WWE shows were edited to make sure they were suitable for all viewers today. The separate WWE Network service for U.S. subscribers closed on April 4, 2021.
In May 2021, Peacock ordered WWE Evil, a documentary series about famous WWE villains. It was created and narrated by John Cena. WWE also committed to producing a "signature documentary" each year. The first, Wooooo! Becoming Ric Flair, was released in December 2022.
WWE Premium Live Events moved from Peacock to ESPN's streaming service in September 2025. This change happened earlier than expected because of extra events like Evolution and the second night of SummerSlam. Peacock continues to carry some WWE content. This includes library shows until the end of 2025, NXT live events until March 2026, and special Saturday Night's Main Event shows later in 2025.
Sports on Peacock
Peacock shows many sports programs from NBC Sports and Telemundo Deportes. This includes live events that are also on NBC or Telemundo, or are exclusive to Peacock. Many sports passes, like Premier League Pass and IndyCar Pass, became part of Peacock Premium after its launch.
In August 2020, Peacock launched NBC Sports on Peacock. This section features sports talk shows. Before the 2025 Major League Baseball season, NBC Sports Regional Networks became available on Peacock as an add-on. This allowed people without cable to watch local games for teams like the Philadelphia Phillies and San Francisco Giants. It also included NBA coverage for teams like the Philadelphia 76ers and Boston Celtics.
Exciting Sporting Events on Peacock
- Olympic Games: Peacock showed coverage of selected events during the 2020 Summer Olympics. Starting with the 2022 Winter Olympics, all events stream live on Peacock Premium. The 2024 Summer Olympics added multi-view options and a "Gold Zone" show.
- National Football League:
- All Sunday Night Football and playoff games are shown live with NBC since the 2021 season.
- Peacock has shown one exclusive game per season since 2023. It also has a section with old NFL Films content. These exclusive games are also shown on local NBC stations in the teams' home markets. Peacock also exclusively showed one Wild Card playoff game in 2023.
- Soccer:
- Premier League: 175 matches per season not on regular TV, plus all matches available on-demand.
- FIFA World Cup: All matches in Spanish from Telemundo and Universo since 2022.
- United States Soccer Federation: All U.S. men's and women's national team home matches in Spanish since 2023.
- USL Super League: All regular season and playoff matches.
- C.D. Guadalajara Liga MX team: All their home games in Spanish.
- College Football:
- Notre Dame football: All NBC games since 2021, plus one exclusive game per season.
- Big Ten Conference: NBC's Big Ten Saturday Night games since 2023, plus eight exclusive games per season.
- National Basketball Association:
- Peacock will begin showing NBA games in the 2025-26 season. This includes regular season and playoff games televised by NBC.
- Peacock will stream exclusive Monday night games and exclusive playoff games.
- College Basketball:
- Big Ten Conference: 47 men's and 30 women's games since the 2023–24 season.
- Atlantic 10 Conference: 6 men's and 7 women's games since the 2024-25 season.
- Big 12 Conference: 20 men's basketball games.
- Big East Conference: 30 games in 2024–25, and 60 games from 2025–26.
- Motorsports:
- IMSA: Live coverage of various racing series in 2025.
- SuperMotocross: All races, replays, practices, and qualifying events.
- NASCAR: Select Cup Series races, including the regular-season finale and playoff races.
- SMX: All races, qualifying, and heats of the SMX World Championship Series in 2025.
- Winter Sports:
- Alpine skiing: FIS World Alpine Skiing championships.
- Figure skating: U.S. and World Figure Skating championships.
- Speed skating: ISU Speed Skating World Cup.
- Curling: Olympic qualifying.
- Golf:
- Live coverage of PGA Tour and USGA tournaments.
- Exclusive coverage during USGA tournaments and The Open Championship.
- Cycling:
- Tour de France: All stages live.
- Tour de France Femmes: All stages live.
- Boxing:
- Exclusive Boxxer fights.
- Darts:
- Professional Darts Corporation: Peacock secured a deal before the 2025 Premier League playoffs. It shows all major tournaments for the rest of 2025, including the World Matchplay and World Championship.
- Track and field:
- Grand Slam Track: Select events.
- USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
- Aquatics:
- World Aquatics Championships: All rounds.
- United States Swimming National Championships.
- Gymnastics:
- USA Gymnastics National Championships.
- U.S. Classic.
- Thoroughbred Racing:
- Royal Ascot.
- Rugby:
- Six Nations Championship.
Past Sports Programs
- IndyCar Series (2021–2024): Coverage of practice, qualifying, and Indy NXT events. This coverage ended in 2024.
- Major League Baseball (2022–2023): MLB Sunday Leadoff games. This ended in 2023.
- NASCAR Xfinity Series (2021-2024): Coverage of the final races. This ended in 2024, with The CW taking over.
- United States Football League (2022–2023): Simulcasts of games. This ended in 2023.
News and Information
Peacock offers news channels like NBC News Now and Sky News (a British news channel). These are available on Peacock's free tier.
In October 2020, NBC News launched "The Choice" channel on Peacock. It featured news and opinion shows. In July 2021, it became "The Choice by MSNBC." In 2022, this channel became part of a new MSNBC hub, offering original content and on-demand MSNBC shows.
In January 2022, Peacock launched 24/7 local news channels. These channels come from NBC's local TV stations. They show live and re-aired news programs, breaking news, and original content. Cities like Chicago, Miami, Philadelphia, Boston, New York City, and Los Angeles were among the first to get these channels.
Peacock Around the World
Peacock content is available in many countries through different partners.
- In Canada, Corus Entertainment and Quebecor Content stream Peacock Original shows.
- In the Middle East and North Africa, OSN offers Peacock's original programming.
- In Australia, Foxtel Group streams newer Peacock originals. Before 2023, Stan had these rights.
- Peacock launched in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Austria, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland through Sky and Now starting in November 2021. However, Peacock shut down in these Sky territories on January 9, 2024. Some Peacock shows moved to Sky channels or Hayu.
- SkyShowtime is a joint streaming service with Paramount Global. It combines shows from both companies, including Peacock Originals. It launched in many European countries, like the Nordic countries, Hungary, Poland, Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain, starting in September 2022.
- In Africa, MultiChoice partnered with NBCUniversal and Sky to relaunch Showmax in February 2024. This service uses Peacock technology and includes content from Peacock and Sky.
- In India, Peacock content is available through JioCinema since November 2023.
- In Latin America and parts of Asia (like Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand), Peacock content is available through Universal+ and HBO Max.
Comcast announced in December 2023 that Peacock would not launch as a standalone service outside the U.S. Instead, its content would continue to be shared through these partnerships.
