Peacock had 42M signups by late April, but most don't pay for service
NBC's Peacock streaming service had 42 million subscribers by late April 2021, according to new figures, though estimates suggest that most users aren't paying for it.
Credit: NBC
The streaming service officially launched to the public in July 2020 with a free ad-supported tier and a pair of paid options.
Less than a year later, Bloomberg reported Thursday that Peacock had garnered about 42 million new sign-ups by late April. About a third of those sign-ups, roughly 14 million users, are actively using the service each month.
It appears that fewer than those 14 million users actually pay for the service separately. According to Bloomberg, 80% of active Peacock users are on the free tier or have access to the streaming platform through a cable partner, meaning roughly 8.4 million customers are paying subscribers.
Peacock is banking on several strategies in an effort to entice more users into the paid tiers, including placing more high-profile content behind a paywall. The service will also use the Olympics as a way to lure more users to sign up for the service.
Peacock isn't the only streaming service that has seemingly struggled to win paid users. According to a January report, about 62% of Apple TV+ users are on a free trial and most don't plan to renew their subscription when it ends.
Keep up with everything Apple in the weekly AppleInsider Podcast -- and get a fast news update from AppleInsider Daily. Just say, "Hey, Siri," to your HomePod mini and ask for these podcasts, and our latest HomeKit Insider episode too.If you want an ad-free main AppleInsider Podcast experience, you can support the AppleInsider podcast by subscribing for $5 per month through Apple's Podcasts app, or via Patreon if you prefer any other podcast player.
Credit: NBC
The streaming service officially launched to the public in July 2020 with a free ad-supported tier and a pair of paid options.
Less than a year later, Bloomberg reported Thursday that Peacock had garnered about 42 million new sign-ups by late April. About a third of those sign-ups, roughly 14 million users, are actively using the service each month.
It appears that fewer than those 14 million users actually pay for the service separately. According to Bloomberg, 80% of active Peacock users are on the free tier or have access to the streaming platform through a cable partner, meaning roughly 8.4 million customers are paying subscribers.
Peacock is banking on several strategies in an effort to entice more users into the paid tiers, including placing more high-profile content behind a paywall. The service will also use the Olympics as a way to lure more users to sign up for the service.
Peacock isn't the only streaming service that has seemingly struggled to win paid users. According to a January report, about 62% of Apple TV+ users are on a free trial and most don't plan to renew their subscription when it ends.
Keep up with everything Apple in the weekly AppleInsider Podcast -- and get a fast news update from AppleInsider Daily. Just say, "Hey, Siri," to your HomePod mini and ask for these podcasts, and our latest HomeKit Insider episode too.If you want an ad-free main AppleInsider Podcast experience, you can support the AppleInsider podcast by subscribing for $5 per month through Apple's Podcasts app, or via Patreon if you prefer any other podcast player.
Comments
I’m an AppleTV+ subscriber, and I’m very happy with it. It’s a slow burn of content development, but from what I’ve seen I’m really happy. But it is HBOMax that has stollen the show. Netflix has fallen waaaay off, and is beginning to look like it’s early days of B-movie offerings. I’m hoping the more The Marvelous Mrs. Mazel (so?) and shows like The Queen’s Gambit come on. As it is, Stranger Things 4 is all I’m looking toward.
I think Prime us headed the right direction. I’m a huge Jack Ryan fan.
CBS and NBC? Meh. I’m not going to signup for an Ad Supported tier, but they just don’t have anything I really care about. I’m Star Trek’ed out, and most Universal stuff is bland. If I want to watch the Olympics, OTS is just fine.
Big difference is that you do not have stay subscribed to all of them at the same time. They’re all month-to-month subscriptions, so only sign up to a couple for a month or so and then switch them out. No reason to have the mall at the same time, unless you actually watch that much content!? I’m signed up to tv+ (part of Apple One) and PBS ($4.99), and then switch out the others month to month.
Cable you’re paying a single subscription to a ton of content that you’d never watch.
I suspect they're inflating the numbers by automatically signing people up via email lists. The most bazaar part was they even sent the "thank you for confirming your email address" email to me, even though I've got two-step authentication enabled on my account, meaning nobody else can read / respond to my emails. It's as if they forced my approval process through. Very odd.
As for Peacock I only subscribe for WWE Wrestling, the only TRUE sport left in the world.