Probably, if you’re thinking about signing up for Peacock (“Ugh, another streaming service!”), It’s because you’re trying to watch The office – and NBC knows that.
The office it’s not just a big problem for college students who are just getting into the “they go, they don’t go” relationship Jim and Pam; is a massive game for NBCUniversal subscribers. And now, the streamer’s marketing efforts reflect that importance. Instead of simply saying “this plan will give you access to these types of bonds”, Peacock’s price is divided by how much you personally love The Office.
Do you only want the first two seasons? The free plan will be more than enough. Searching for each episode of The office, along with previously unseen clips? You will want Peacock Premium. Want everything in that layer, but without all those annoying ads (more on that in a second)? Peacock Premium Plus is what you are looking for.
(Disclosure: Comcast, owner of NBCUniversal, is also an investor in Vox Media, The VergeMother emprise.)
In addition to the confusion associated with each layer, trying to sell people a service based on how much they love The office it looks … well, not great. Especially when people start signing up for Peacock and get frustrated. For example: Peacock Premium Plus is not exactly ad-free. Even though NBCUniversal notes that in a notice on the sign-up page, Peacock’s subreddit is full of angry customers who believed the entire experience would be ad-free, only to discover that “a small amount of programming will still contain ads.” As a technology reporter and columnist Walt Mossberg tweeted, the switch from Netflix to Peacock “diminished the experience of watching the show”.
The office was previously available on Netflix, where it remained one of the most watched programs on any streaming service for several years. Unlike Peacock, Netflix is also extremely easy to use. People pay an average of about $ 14 a month and have access to everything without ads on almost any device they want.
Peacock is not the only streamer whose “ad-free” platform contains ads. Hulu’s ad-free plan will display ads on “a select number of programs from our streaming library” due to streaming rights, according to the company’s website. There are currently two programs that contain advertisements: Grey’s Anatomy and SHIELD agents. By comparison, it appears that there are more ads on shows and movies at Peacock’s “ad-free” level. NBC probably has a similar contractual obligation to display ads on some programs, but there is no warning icon or sign to indicate what schedule an ad will have until one appears.
We are in a time of transition for the industry. There has never been more to broadcast, but it is also more fragmented than ever (at least in the United States), as each conglomerate tries to find its place in an expanding market. Everything used to be on Netflix or Hulu. Now, everything is somewhere, but it’s up to customers to find out exactly where their favorite show or movie is and whether it’s really worth adding another $ 10 subscription to their monthly expenses. In other words: it is The office or Friends is it really worth buying a Peacock or HBO Max subscription? This is something that individual customers need to decide.
It is important to note that the totality of The office is available for $ 70 on iTunes now. If you’re just signing up for Peacock to watch The office, there are better ways.