Peacock, the streaming app from NBCUniversal that launched in July, has finally brokered a deal with Roku, a popular gizmo that connects your TV to all these new platforms you suddenly can’t live without.
Variety reports that an agreement was made late Friday, after NBCU threatened to pull its 46 other “TV Everywhere” apps from the service. In addition to NBC itself, these include Bravo, Syfy, E!, USA, and 23 different Telemundo-branded apps.
NBC content will be added to the free-with-advertising in-house Roku Channel, according to the report. While no money is exchanging hands, a source said there was “a meaningful partnership around advertising.”
Roku reported 43 million streaming accounts at the end of June, either through separate attachments or through Roku-enhanced smart TVs. Peacock claims 15 million sign-ups since their launch.
Notably, Peacock remains unavailable on Roku’s chief rival, Amazon Fire TV. (Fire TV claims 40 million customers.)
Peacock offers archival material for free, with additional tiers for a monthly fee. As with CBS All Access (soon-to-be rebranded as Paramount+), there are two price points, depending if you want to deal with ads.
Peacock’s offerings include the series Brave New World and some reliable film titles like Shrek, Children of Men, and, soon, all the Harry Potter movies. They are preparing new iterations of known IP like Battlestar Galactica, Saved By The Bell, MacGruber, Clueless, and Bel-Air, a reboot of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air produced by Will Smith.
This development leaves HBO Max as the only major streamer unavailable to Roku or Fire TV users. Users are forced to connect their laptops to their television sets via HDMI cables like barbarians.
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