Comcast is implementing a price hike that will impact subscribers of its streaming service Peacock, the company announced on Monday.
New customers who subscribe to the premium version of Peacock will pay $6 a month for access to the streaming service’s catalog of NBC shows, Universal movies and other content, while those who choose the ad-free version of Peacock, called Premium Plus, will pay $12 a month. Previously, customers paid $5 a month for the ad-lite version and $10 a month to go commercial-free.
The price increase takes effect for existing Peacock subscribers on August 17, the company announced in a notice to customers. The hikes come about three weeks after Comcast ended a long-time promotion that saw many of its Xfinity video and Internet subscribers get free access to Peacock over the last three years.
Comcast has struggled to see a return on its content production and marketing investments in Peacock since the service debuted in April 2020. A spokesperson for the company said the price increase is intended to help Comcast better invest in content for the service.
Peacock is just the latest in a string of price increases to impact streaming services put forth by major media companies over the last few years. Paramount Global (Paramount Plus), Lionsgate (Starz) and Warner Bros Discovery (HBO Max, Max) all raised the prices of their flagship streaming services this year, while Netflix and Disney Plus have done the same in recent times.
Peacock has around 22 million paying subscribers, according to figures released by Comcast. The company says it expects to lose around $3 billion on the streaming service this year before Peacock’s financial situation improves.
