There are better ways to watch linear TV than this
Streaming didn’t kill the TV and movie stars, but all those awesome and affordable services have certainly made a mess of our media diets. If you read Android Police, you’re probably more of the on-demand type when it comes to watching news and entertainment, but you still spend time on live (or just linear) programming once in a while. Comcast is hoping to leverage those occasional urgings by offering a livestream of your local NBC affiliate as an additional perk for subscribing to Peacock Premium Plus.
Variety reports Peacock began rolling out the affiliate livestreams today and that it expects to have all 210 of the nation’s traditional broadcast markets covered by the end of the month. Premium Plus subscribers, who pay $10 a month for ad-free access to NBCUniversal’s serial and film catalog, will be able to access the livestream (ads, local content, and all) of the NBC affiliate serving their area right from the home screen of the app or web portal.
Earlier this month, Peacock began hosting a hub of Hallmark-branded linear channels including Hallmark Channel, Hallmark Drama, and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries.
Peacock separately offers an ad-supported tier to its on-demand content just called Premium for $5 per month. The plan features the Hallmark content, but not the local affiliate livestream.
As much as Comcast can tout it, the new livestream feature for Peacock Premium Plus really better serves the affiliates and their ownership groups more than the viewer. YouTube TV may charge $65 per month for a channel lineup that you might not appreciate in its totality, but it does offer unlimited cloud DVR and playback controls for live viewing. If you care about linear TV, you’re probably not doing it through Peacock (to say the least). The obverse is true if you’re watching streaming-exclusive titles on your own time.
In related news from August (via Variety), there’s been some talk that NBC may drop the third hour of its primetime schedule and give it back to local affiliates as soon as next year. Those in the know speculate that shows in that slot would be better suited to Peacock.
