NBC's Peacock Expected To Be More 'Like Spotify'

Comcast NBCUniversal rolled out details of its new streaming service Peacock late Thursday, tapping its top star talent to lay out the company's grand plan to draw viewers with free subscriptions, premium NBCUniversal content and coverage of the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo.

In the two-hour long event — presented on the famed "Saturday Night Live" stage in Studio 8H in 30 Rock — a slate of Comcast executives and celebrities like Tina Fey gave a clearer picture of exactly how the service will work and what content will be available on it when it's released in April.

The Philadelphia media conglomerate is somewhat of a latecomer to the streaming game, with Apple and Disney each rolling out their own respective services late last year. However, HBO Max — AT&T's venture into the space following its acquisition of Time Warner and its media properties like HBO and Warner Bros. — is expected this spring as well.

Matt Strauss

Philly Business Journal reports Peacock's chairman Matt Strauss walked investors through a demo of the platform, which starts off with automatically playing content to draw viewers in. Strauss stressed one of the big ways Peacock is differentiated from other streaming services is that it will offer "lean back" viewing options for customers who won't want to search for something to watch. Live channels will feature curated content that users can browse through like a typical cable TV programming grid, and the channels will adapt to viewers' preferences.

"The channels will become more dynamic the more you use the service, like Spotify," he said.

Users will also be able to access content on-demand and with shows like "The Office," be able to access collected clips of the best of Jim's pranks and highlights of Jim and Pam's love story.
A separate section just for news will provide live, streaming coverage from NBC News' top properties including "The Today Show," CNBC and MSNBC.

The sports section will be packed with Olympics content for the 2020 games, including three daily shows called Tokyo Live, the Tokyo Daily Digest and Tokyo Tonight. The opening ceremony will be streamed live on the platform as well, ahead of its replaying during primetime on linear TV. Kids will also be able to have their own profile on the service and watch specially curated kids content.