NBC’s Peacock exceeds expectations as it nears 22 million sign-ups

Peacock is more than halfway towards its long-term goal

Comcast announced during its most recent earnings call that NBCUniversal’s Peacock has hit almost 22 million sign-ups since launch, which puts the streaming service more than halfway towards its long-term goal.

Before launching the service, NBCUniversal expected Peacock to reach between 30 million and 35 million active accounts by 2024. Considering the current pace of growth and the content planned for 2021, that could be achieved within the next twelve months.

Comcast CEO Brian Roberts confirmed that Peacock is exceeding “expectations on all engagement metrics in only a few months.” Perhaps more impressive is the fact that everything has been achieved without two massive draws.

Comcast had originally hoped to use its telecast of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics to boost Peacock sign-ups. However, the coronavirus pandemic forced it to delay everything until summer 2021. 

Peacock doesn’t yet offer The Office either. The latter is expected to boost interest dramatically when it arrives on the streaming service in January 2021, but it’s currently available exclusively on Netflix.

Peacock, unlike competing services, offers a free ad-supported tier. It complements a $9.99 premium package with no ads, although it’s unclear how many of the 22 million sign-ups are paying customers.