Peacock has removed its free membership tier for new customers

NBCUniversal will no longer offer a free membership tier to new customers subscribing to its Peacock streaming service. Starting January 30, new Peacock customers will now need to subscribe to the Premium ($4.99/month) with ads or Premium Plus ($9.99/month) ad-free plan to access content on the platform. , as The Streamable first reported.

Much of the marketing for Peacock’s streaming debut in 2020 focused on the free membership tier, even introducing the service alongside the tagline “free as a bird”. The free membership was supported by advertisements and allowed users access to a limited selection of Peacock content. Existing users will continue to have access to the free tier of Peacock, as will Premium Peacock subscribers who wish to opt out of their current paid subscription.

Peacock is still operating at a loss despite recently surpassing 20 million paying subscribers

The Streamable reports that an NBCUniversal source (delivering a similar message to an NBCUniversal spokesperson reached by Variety) said the membership change would allow Peacock to better focus on its Premium membership offerings, which, according to the company, is the best way for customers to experience the service. .

Peacock managed to increase the total number of paying subscribers to 20 million, from 9 million the previous year, probably due to the broadcast of Premier League football matches alongside the success of original shows like Dr. Death, Bel -Air and the first four seasons. of Yellowstone – all of which require a Premium subscription to view in full. The sudden popularity of Peacock’s latest original series, Poker Face, is also likely to attract other paying subscribers to the platform.

Disclosure: Comcast, owner of NBCUniversal, is also an investor in Vox Media, the parent company of The Verge.