The livestream feature, announced by Peacock on Tuesday, is set to officially launch on November 30, but will begin appearing on certain subscribers’ profiles immediately, as the streamer rolls it out. The livestream can be found on the service’s channels page, which hosts linear broadcasts of other brands such as WWE, NBC News, and several sports franchises like the NFL and Premier League. Although Peacock has three subscriber tiers, the NBC affiliate livestream will be exclusive to the Peacock Premium Plus subscription, which charges $9.99 per month in exchange for zero ads.
Peacock will use geotagging to match subscribers with the NBC affiliate in their area. All 210 NBC affiliate markets across the U.S. will be serviced by the channel, allowing viewers to watch local news, sports and weather, and other market-based programming online. The livestream will also include NBC’s nationwide programming, from daytime programs like “The Today Show,” late night talk shows like “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” and primetime programming like the “Law and Order” franchise and “Quantum Leap.”
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“With Peacock’s local affiliate livestream, our subscribers are getting the unique combination of the ad-free on-demand content they love with the local news and NBC programming that is already part of their daily life,” Peacock president Kelly Campbell said in a statement. “NBC affiliates have long been an integral part of local communities, and we look forward to being another point of connection and engagement for those communities across the country.”
Peacock isn’t the first streaming service to bring the linear television experience online. Since 2017, Hulu has operated its Live TV service, allowing subscribers to watch over 75 live television channels. Other services, such as Sling TV and Youtube TV, exclusively focus on offering linear television online.
Since it launched in 2020, Peacock has struggled to find an audience, remaining stagnant at 13 million subscribers for several quarters and losing a hefty $614 million in Q3 2022. One way in which the streamer has carved out a niche for itself is through its partnerships with cable TV channels to host content, such as the recently-launched Hallmark Channel content hub.
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