Peacock Signed Up 2.8M For NFL Streaming-Only Playoff Game

Earlier this month, NBC Universal said the NFL playoff game it streamed (mostly) exclusively on Peacock, its streaming service, was a huge success.

NBC and its parent company, Comcast, backed up that claim by citing ratings — it drew some 23 million viewers — and self-generated statistics about internet usage during the game. Crucially, it didn't say how many people signed up (and paid for) Peacock to watch the game.

The success of the Peacock NFL game means it could cost you extra to watch the playoffs again next season, reports Business Insider.

Peacock signed up nearly 3 million subscribers for the game.

That's according to subscription tracking service Antenna, which says 2.8 million people signed up over a three-day window leading up to the January 13 game. Antenna says that's the biggest sign-up around a "singular programming event" it has ever seen. (It says Disney+ signed up 2.5 million people on its launch day in 2019, though Disney announced 10 million signups. You can read about Antenna's methodology and the possible difference between those numbers here.)

A Comcast rep declined to comment on Antenna's report.

The next big question: How many of those folks will stick around and keep paying after the game — especially because churn is a major issue for streamers? We won't know that answer for a while.