What you need to know
- Peacock is raising the prices of both of its subscription service tiers as of July 18 for new customers and August 17 for existing subscribers.
- The Premium plan, which includes ads, will now cost $8 per month, while the ad-free Premium Plus plan will cost $14 per month.
- It's impossible to ignore the timing of this move, since NBC (and Peacock) have the rights to the summer Olympic Games, which begin a week after the price hike takes effect.
Nearly one year to the day after Peacock raised its subscription fees in July 2023, the streaming service will hike prices again. This time, it appears Peacock plans to leverage the hype and attention that will be drawn by the upcoming summer Olympic Games to entice subscribers to join the platform at a higher rate. Peacock's planned price hike will be put in place starting July 18 for new subscribers, which is about a week before the Olympics will kick off in Paris.
This time, Peacock will raise prices by $2 across the board. Its cheaper Premium plan will now cost $8 monthly, up from the old rate of $6 per month. That plan is ad-supported, so users will also have to watch ads in addition to paying the new monthly rate. The ad-free Premium Plus plan will now cost $14 per month, up from $12.
Peacock's price increase marks two years in a row that the subscription service has raised prices in July. Last year, Peacock raised the Premium plan by $1 and the Premium Plus plan by $2 per month in a move that took effect July 17, 2023. Routine price hikes seem to be the norm in the streaming world lately, with Netflix and others raising rates, and Peacock is no exception.
While new customers will have to pay the higher rates beginning July 18, 2024, existing subscribers have a bit more time. Their subscription fees won't go up until the following month, starting August 17. For what it's worth, that means current subscribers can watch the 2024 Olympic Games in its entirety without paying the new rates.
NBC has had exclusive American broadcasting rights to the Summer Olympic Games since 1988 and the Winter Olympic Games since 2002. For people without cable television, Peacock will be one of the few (maybe only) ways to stream the 2024 Olympics in a few months. As such, it makes sense that Peacock wants to increase subscription fees just before an influx of new subscribers will likely join the platform.
Peacock's annual subscription prices are increasing as well. The Premium plan now costs $80 per year, while the Premium Plus plan now costs $140 per year.
