NBC’s streaming service Peacock implemented a big price increase for new subscribers this week, just days before the highly anticipated opening of the 2024 Summer Olympics.
The Comcast-owned streaming service on Thursday began charging new subscribers $7.99 for Peacock’s standard ad-supported “Premium” plan, a 33 percent increase over the previous price of $5.99 per month. The annual price for the “Premium” plan has increased $20 to $79.99 from $59.99.
The ad-free “Premium Plus” plan is even more expensive, now costing $13.99 per month (up from $11.99 per month before the price increase), and the annual price has also increased by $20, from $119.99 to $139.99 per year.
For existing Peacock subscribers, the price increase will take effect sometime after August 19th, depending on your next billing date.
NBC announced the pricing change last April, marking the second time in the past two years that the network has increased its Peacock subscription fees.
The network’s exclusive coverage of the 2024 Paris Olympics will begin July 26 and run through mid-August, with many events available to stream on Peacock.
Some viewers were unhappy About Reddit’s Latest Increase.
“Time to cancel,” one person wrote.
Another Reddit user wrote, “I forget I have Peacock because there’s nothing that screams, ‘Look at me!'”
Peacock will have 34 million subscribers as of the first quarter of 2024, up 55% from the same period last year, but that’s still far fewer than the likes of Netflix, which has more than 277 million subscribers worldwide.
NBC is just one of many streaming companies that have raised prices to cash in on subscribers in an increasingly competitive market.
Last month, Warner Bros. Discovery raised the price of its ad-free “Max” streaming service.
