Charter Communications is now offering some of its pay television customers free access to Comcast’s streaming service Peacock as part of their subscription.
Starting this week, customers who pay for Spectrum TV Select can now activate Peacock Premium as part of their plan, and at no extra cost. The perk is part of a comprehensive, multi-year distribution agreement between Charter and Comcast’s NBC Universal reached last year, which also includes offering linear channels like NBC, Bravo, USA Network, CNBC and MSNBC in its packages.
“The integration of Peacock advances our goal of offering customers high-value video products that include the best of linear and streaming television,” Tom Montemagno, the Executive Vice President of Programming Acquisition for Spectrum, said in a statement. “Peacock’s inclusion means customers in our most popular packages now enjoy free access to the industry’s major streaming services with their Spectrum TV plan, providing up to approximately $80 per month of retail value at no extra cost. We appreciate NBCUniversal’s willingness to help build a healthier video ecosystem for viewers.”
“Spectrum has long been an important distributor of NBCUniversal’s leading broadcast and cable networks, and we are proud to build on that partnership by making Peacock Premium available to Spectrum TV Select customers,” said Matt Schnaars, the President of Platform Distribution and Partnerships at NBC Universal. “Peacock’s valuable content offering will further strengthen Spectrum’s video products and continue Peacock’s impressive growth.”
The partnership is one of several that Charter has effectuated with programmers that allows the company to offer its pay TV customers access to the ad-supported versions of network-owned streaming services. Similar agreements exist with the Walt Disney Company (Disney Plus, ESPN Plus), AMC Networks (AMC Plus), Allen Media (The Weather Channel), Sinclair (Tennis Channel Plus), Paramount Global (Paramount Plus), Main Street Sports (FanDuel Sports Network) Warner Bros Discovery (Max) and Televisa-Univision (Vix Premium).
Charter is in the process of building out tools that further educate Spectrum TV customers on the streaming-related benefits in their pay TV packages, and activate the services available to them.
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Editor’s note: An early version of this story said Charter’s no-cost streaming perks included access to the ad-supported tier of Hulu, which was based on earlier reporting. A Charter spokesperson clarified that no-cost access to Hulu is not part of its agreement with Disney; however, Spectrum TV customers can subscribe to the Disney Duo bundle, which includes Hulu, for separate fees.
