Peacock ends free tier for brand spanking new customers – The Hollywood Reporter

Peacock brings his chook again to the cage.

Based on an up to date login web page for the NBCUniversal streaming service, new customers will now not have the choice to create a free account to entry greater than 10,000 hours of content material on Peacock. As a substitute, beginning this week, customers must select between Peacock’s $4.99-per-month ad-supported plan or $9.99-per-month ad-free plan. The direct hyperlink to create a free account additionally redirects to the identical login web page that takes customers to the 2 paid plans.

Current customers with free accounts will proceed to have entry to the free tier.

A rep for NBCUniversal mentioned the replace displays Peacock’s give attention to its premium plans and the inflow of programming this yr, which incorporates originals like starring Natasha Lyonne poker face and dwell sports activities.

The subscription replace, which occurred on Monday and was first noticed by The Streamable, marks a significant reversal for Peacock, which has marketed its free tier – full with the slogan “free as a chook” – to interrupt away from its streaming stand out from rivals.

Peacock mentioned final week it surpassed 20 million paying subscribers however expects losses, which totaled $2.5 billion in 2022, to widen to $3 billion this yr. The streamer additionally made its debut on Nielsen’s The Gauge, the place it accounted for 1 p.c of whole TV time in December, however lagged behind rivals like Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, Prime Video and HBO Max.

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