

NBC will also have a bunch of what it’s calling virtual channels available for Peacock users to choose from. These will serve up content to those who don’t want to make specific choices about what to watch. Users will also be able to create personalized channels - for example, custom channels with live events, a trending feed, or individual content preferences. (NBCUniversal is an investor in Vox Media, Vox’s parent company.) Virtual channels bring channel surfing to streaming These include next-day broadcasts of current shows (like This is Us) as well as select episodes of the app’s exclusive content (like the new season of AP Bio, formerly on NBC) the entire runs of popular other NBC- and Universal-produced shows a number of movies and daily news content from NBC’s various anchors and outlets. The Peacock app will feature more than 7,500 hours of ad-supported free content, which will be available on mobile, web, and TV-connected web devices. The free tier will offer nearly 8,000 hours of ad-supported content

The key need-to-know details below will help you answer the question for yourself. Will Peacock’s later arrival be to its benefit or detriment? Plus there’s Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime. When Peacock launches this summer, however, it will be the fourth new streaming service to arrive in the past eight months it will follow Apple TV+, Disney+, and HBO Max (out in May). There’s even something called virtual channels, a fascinating idea of livestreamed, curated content that connects Peacock to its roots on broadcast TV. Users will have the ability to choose between on-demand content and a browsable back catalog of 600 films and more than 10,000 hours of NBC television series. It will offer a free, ad-supported tier, as well as two premium options with more content options: one with ads for $4.99, and another with no ads for $9.99.

The new platform will launch on July 15, 2020, in conjunction with the Tokyo Olympics. And Peacock, details of which NBC revealed in full Thursday at an investors’ meeting in New York City, is a fitting name for NBC’s entrée into the streaming wars, because Peacock is the one platform that actually resembles network television. NBC’s streaming service is called Peacock, in honor of the broadcast network’s iconic logo.
