Since September, new episodes of some NBCUniversal shows such as Saturday Night Live, The Voice and American cars will no longer fight Hulu days after they were broadcast. NBCUniversal has concluded a content deal between the two, which means those movies will stream exclusively on Peacock. It’s not clear what other shows will be affected by the move, according to The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline.
The decision to sever ties with Hulu comes as NBCU tries to attract more subscribers Peacock. At the end of last year, it was 9 million paid subscribers (most of them choose the ad-supported $5 tier) and 24.5 million monthly active accounts. It’s not clear how many of them are using the free tier. Comcast subscribers can access an ad-supported version of Peacock Premium no surcharge.
“Much of our strong NBC content premieres on Hulu. Over time, we want to bring that back to Peacock,” said NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell speak on Comcast’s January earnings call. Comcast CFO Mike Cavanagh said the company plans to spend $3 billion on Peacock content this year.
Keep popular shows like SNL and Voice because a streaming monopoly could help NBCU increase Peacock user numbers. NBCU has invested in other types of content to attract subscribers, including live sports rights, local news channel and do WWE Network exclusive to the platform. Peacock also has a wide range of original material, including Bel-Air and a Twisted Metal series coming soon.
Having more broadcast and cable shows to stream right after they’ve aired has long been a selling point for Hulu. It would be a blow to the service if it lost some notable NBC dramas.
Although Disney has fully in charge of Hulu As of 2019, Comcast still owns 33% of the service. Comcast can ask Disney to buy out all of its shares, but it won’t be until 2024. By the end of 2021, Hulu has 45.3 million subscribers.
Update 3/4/22 8:30 p.m. ET: “With the proliferation of streaming services entering the market, we’ve long anticipated changes to our third-party content offering, and over the past few years we’ve increased invest in original content, including popular and award-nominated titles,” a Hulu spokesperson told Attraction via email. “As the premier destination for groundbreaking storytelling, we continue to make Hulu the exclusive home for stories from across the Walt Disney Company and beyond to bring viewers premium content more hosted by Hulu Originals and the next day TV show.”
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