A perfect fit for all NBC aficionados despite the apparent lack of original content.
I rate Peacock a 7.9 on 10. NBC's video streaming service mixes an imperfect (but growing) library of fan-favorite series and movies with live news and sports at a fair fee. There's even a completely free, ad-supported tier available.
However, the current lineup of originals is limited, the movie library is frequently updated, and only Premium Plus customers have access to movies that can be downloaded for offline watching.
Despite this, the free version's extensive streaming library and HD streaming features attract more members. In addition, the vast library of free content on Peacock is engaging. Still, the scarcity of recent movies and NBC's repertoire's limitations make Peacock Premium appear to be a needless purchase.
DESPITE BEING ON THE COMPANY'S FUTURE ROADMAP, Peacock TVstill lacks support for 4K HDR video and Dolby Atmos. I enjoy the simple pricing structure, but the Premium plan is too limited; this paid tier still includes advertisements.
Fans of the NBC shows will be pleased with their new streaming home, but Peacock does not seem to be a serious competitor to Netflix, Hulu, or even HBO Max, which was recently established.
Peacock (owned by Comcast) from NBCUniversal was one of the last traditional media companies to create a service. Peacock offers various NBC network shows, original series, popular films, and live sporting events. Peacock's on-demand streaming is based on a freemium approach, with a combination of TV episodes, movies, and live sports available for free with commercials.
In addition, subscribers to Peacock Premium get access to exclusive Peacock channels as well as an extensive back archive of NBC programming.
Peacock TV Pricing
Peacock TV is a free service that progresses to a paid service of a premium price of $9.99.
- The free and ad-supported streaming tier, Peacock Free, has 7,500 hours of content.
- This includes access to current seasons of freshman broadcast programs, select episodes of Peacock originals and tentpole series, entire classic series, popular movies, curated daily news and sports programming such as the Olympics, and Spanish-language material.
- "SNL Vault," "Family Movie Night," and "Olympic Profiles" are among the category channels available on Peacock's free streaming service.
- If you don't have Comcast, Peacock Premium costs $4.99 a month, and Peacock Premium Plus, free of most ads, is $9.99 per month.
- Peacock Premium is available for free to Comcast subscribers.
- Peacock Premium Plus removes "most" ads, but it isn't entirely ad-free. Advertisements are still served in "a small quantity of programming," including Peacock channels, events, and a few episodes and movies.
- Both Premium tiers will offer access to 15,000 hours of material, including all current broadcast shows streamed the next day;
Peacock TV features
User Interface:
- The web interface of Peacock is simple, with a color pattern of black, yellow, grey, and white.
- I had expected more dramatic splashes of color throughout the NBC Peacock logo because it is so vibrant.
- On the other hand, the layout is simple, and I had no performance concerns during my testing.
Streaming experience:
- Peacock's web-based replay interface provides all of the usual functionality.
- There are 10-second rewind and fast forward buttons, subtitles toggle, a More Episodes selector (for TV shows), and an info button for seeing a summary of the content in addition to the conventional playing and volume controls.
Content catalog:
- Peacock's free tier includes around 13,000 hours of ad-supported programming.
- Shows, movies, news, live sports, and skit-style segments are among the highlights, with Modern Family, 30 Rock, and The Bourne Identity among the standouts.
- Peacock's live sports coverage is excellent, albeit the most critical events require a Premium subscription once again.
- It features English Premier League soccer, NHL hockey, and WWE wrestling, which are available only to Premium subscribers.
Parental Controls:
- The parental control features provided by Peacock have improved.
- You can create a four-digit pin under the Account Settings area, which Peacock will need you to provide every time you (or your child) watch something with the designated parental rating or above.
- Peacock now allows you to establish up to six profiles per account, which is a significant improvement.
- You can designate a profile as a Kids account, even if you can't define custom limits per profile (only shows content with TVY, TVY7, TVY7-FV, TVG, G, TVPG, and PG ratings).
- This arrangement is suitable for families with more minor children, but it is not ideal for parents of older children.
Free trial:
- You'll get a 7-day free trial when you join up for Peacock Premium, regardless of whether you select the $4.99 or $9.99 tier.
- The $4.99 plan has three to five minutes of advertising per hour, while the $9.99 plan is ad-free for the most part (some programs must contractually play commercials, though).
- Like its competitors, there is a Peacock Free Trial, but only for premium subscribers.
VPN Compatibility:
- I tried viewing some of Peacock's on-demand material using a paid VPN server in the United States.
- Peacock usually displayed a notice stating that using a VPN to access the service is prohibited.
- On other occasions, I was able to stream via a VPN connection.
What does it lack?
Screen resolution:
- Peacock, like HBO Max, does not allow 4K HDR streaming at the moment.
- This feature is available on Apple TV+, Disney+, Prime Video, and Netflix.
Accessibility:
- Subtitles for Peacock shows cannot be customized directly from the video player.
- You must go to the desktop section's settings to modify the appearance of these captions.
- You can alter the font size, font color, shadow, background, and window color and select a new text style from there.
- The Audio Description Project had only uncovered 16 titles that allowed audio descriptions at the time of writing.
- Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video, and Netflix all have significantly more accessibility support.
Conclusion
Peacock, the streaming service from NBC Universal, which Comcast owns, is something of an experiment. Thanks to its tiling layout and big-name network, it resembles Netflix, Hulu, Disney Plus, and HBO Max. But, unlike those services, it provides a free version that offers a variety of live news and sports, as well as a vast library of TV shows and movies. I like the service because it has a free tier, has fewer advertisements than Hulu, and includes news and late-night programming (which aren't available on the other streaming services). But, overall, I was disappointed with the service because of the shortage of original content and the fact that several seasons of important shows were absent from its back catalog.
