Peacock Gained Millions of Subscribers in Q1, Netflix Suffered Losses
NBC, in its bid for a piece of the streaming market, developed the Peacock platform. How many subscribers does Peacock have right now?
Apr. 29 2022, Published 2:05 p.m. ET
It seems nearly every major television network is venturing into streaming now that traditional television is phasing out. ESPN has ESPN+ and ViacomCBS has Paramount, and they're all competing with Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, Disney+, Discovery+, and others. NBC has also entered the ring, with Peacock. How many subscribers does Peacock have?
Launched in April 2020, Peacock is owned by Comcast's NBCUniversal. The network posted some impressive results in the first quarter of 2022.
How does Peacock work?
Peacock, an online streaming service, offers both free and paid subscriptions. In the free version, ads appear the service's various movies, live news, sports, and television shows (including NBC originals such as The Office and 30 Rock).
The paid Premium version, meanwhile, offers full seasons of shows and next-day airings of shows that air live on NBC and Telemundo. In 2021, NBCUniversal signed a six-year contract with the Premier League, letting Peacock Premium users watch live soccer games at any time. Premium costs $4.99 per month and has fewer ads than the free version. For a zero-ad experience, viewers can opt for Peacock Premium Plus for $9.99 per month.
How many subscribers does Peacock have?
Peacock has over 28 million monthly subscribers, along with 13 million paid subscribers, according to The Wall Street Journal. In the first quarter of 2022, Peacock gained 4 million new subscribers, a 40 percent increase from the previous quarter.
In the first quarter of fiscal 2022, Comcast's net profit rose by 6.6 percent to $3.55 billion, and its revenue rose by 14 percent to $31 billion. NBCUniversal's revenue rose by 15 percent to $2.76 billion.
How does Peacock compare to Netflix?
Netflix lagged behind Peacock in the first quarter. For the first quarter in over a decade, Netflix lost subscribers (around 640,000). While the loss is concerning, the company still has approximately 222 million subscribers, which is more than any other streaming service in the U.S.
Whether Peacock is better than Netflix depends on personal preference. Netflix has basic, standard, and premium plans. The basic plan costs $9.99, while the standard plan is $15.49 for higher streaming quality and more devices to stream and download from. The premium subscription offers the highest quality and greatest number of devices for streaming and downloading.
Netflix has received heavy criticism lately because it announced plans to crack down on people sharing passwords to their accounts earlier this year. The company also plans to implement advertisements in between TV shows and movies. These factors can be contributed to the company's loss of subscribers.
Pete Davidson has a new show on the way to the streaming platform.
Saturday Night Live star Pete Davidson will have his own comedy series, Bupkis, which is based on his life. Peacock has been bolstering its NBC original shows, with Bel-Air, a spinoff from the original Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, being popular in recent months. Another success for Peacock has been Young Rock, a sitcom series based on the story of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
