Studio formally joins the age of subscription SVOD; animated shows ‘Where’s Waldo?,’ ‘Cleopatra in Space,’ and ‘Curious George’ are among original Peacock series debuting on the service.
Peacock, NBCUniversal’s new subscription-based streaming service, officially launches today, joining the recently launched HBO Max and Disney+ as the newest players in the ever-competitive and expanding SVOD field. The platform offers consumers a collection of live and on demand programming, a collection of more than 20,000 hours of premium content from networks and studios including NBC, Bravo, USA Network, SYFY, Oxygen, E!, CNBC, MSNBC, NBCSN, Golf Channel, Universal Kids, A&E, ABC, CBS, The CW, FOX, HISTORY, Nickelodeon, Showtime, Universal Pictures, DreamWorks, Focus Features, Illumination, ViacomCBS, Paramount, Lionsgate, Warner Bros., and Blumhouse.
As part of the launch, the service is featuring Peacock Original movies and shows; three animated series top the list:
DreamWorks’ Where’s Waldo?
- Twelve-year-old Waldo (Joshua Rush, The Lion Guard, Andi Mack) and his best friend Wenda (Haley Tju, Bella and the Bulldogs) are members of the Worldwide Wanderer Society—the international order of curious travelers who circle the globe celebrating cultures and solving problems through observation. Their mentor, Wizard Whitebeard (Thomas Lennon, The State; Reno 911: The Odd Couple), a seasoned wanderer, sends these inquisitive young adventurers on international travel missions so they can earn their stripes and someday become wizard-level wanderers too. But standing in Waldo and Wenda’s way is their rival Odlulu (Eva Carlton, Little), who cannot help but cause trouble wherever she goes.
- F.M. De Marco (Spy Kids: Mission Critical) and John Tellegen (Spy Kids: Mission Critical) executive produced the series.
DreamWorks’ Cleopatra in Space
- A comedic adventure focusing on the untold story of Cleopatra’s teenage years. Viewers can follow Cleo (Lilimar Hernandez, Bella and the Bulldogs, Knight Squad) as she is transported 30,000 years into the future, to an Egyptian-themed planet that is ruled by talking cats and where she discovers she is the prophesied savior of the future world. In order to prepare for her role and mission, Cleo is sent to an elite academy where she has to train to take on the bad guys, figure out how to eventually get herself back home to Egypt, as well as tackling the highs and lows of being a teenager in high school.
- Based on the award-winning graphic novel series by Mike Maihack, Cleopatra in Space is executive produced by Doug Langdale (The Adventures of Puss in Boots) and Scott Kreamer (Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness).
Curious George
- First introduced to the world of children’s literacy over 75 years ago, “Curious George” was created by Margret and H.A. Rey in 1941 and remains one of the most popular children’s classics of all-time. The animated series targets preschool viewers and follows the adventures of everyone’s favorite monkey and his insatiable curiosity to bring delightful antics, gentle humor, and heartfelt emotion to each fun-filled episode. With a focus on education, the award-winning program incorporates early concepts in math, science, technology, and engineering and encourages children to use their imagination and expand their own investigations of the world.
- The Curious George voice cast includes Frank Welker (Scooby Doo, Guess Who?), Jeff Bennett (The Loud House) and Rino Romano (Spaceballs: The Animated Series).
“This is a historic moment for our company as we proudly introduce Peacock to consumers nationwide—a groundbreaking vision that was brought to life by an incredible team of people from across Comcast, NBCUniversal and Sky,” commented Peacock chairman, Matt Strauss. “From current, classic and original movies and shows, to live news, sports, curated channels and trending content from around the world, Peacock is the only free, premium ad-supported streaming service that brings together everything consumers love about television and streaming—all in one place.”
Peacock offers an ad-supported free tier and an ad-supported premium tier for $4.99/month, serving no more than five minutes of advertising per hour. An ad-free version of the premium tier is also available for $9.99/month. It is currently available on Apple devices including iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple TV 4K and Apple TV HD; Google platforms and devices including Android, Android TV devices, Chromecast and Chromecast built-in devices; Microsoft’s Xbox One family of devices, including Xbox One S and Xbox One X; and VIZIO SmartCast TVs and LG Smart TVs. Comcast’s eligible Xfinity X1 and Flex customers, as well as eligible Cox Contour customers, enjoy Peacock Premium included with their service at no additional cost. Starting the week of July 20, Peacock will be available on Sony PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 4 Pro.
What to Watch
Both free and premium tiers will feature current season hits from NBC, timely news, sports and pop culture highlights, and dozens of genre channels including live news from NBC News Now and Sky News, and curated channels featuring the best moments from popular shows.
Free Tier Highlights
Peacock will offer more than 13,000 hours of free content including a large library of popular movies and new episodes of NBC current season series one week after they air. The free tier also includes four exclusive premier league matches on July 15, select events from the upcoming Tokyo and Beijing Olympics and on demand replays of events like Triple Crown horse races, daily highlights from NBC Sports, and hundreds of hours of sports series, documentaries and films.
Premium Tier Highlights
Peacock Premium will feature access to all 20,000 hours of programming on the platform, including everything in the free tier plus the full catalog of Peacock Originals. It will also provide earlier access to programming, such as next-day access to new episodes of current season NBC shows and access to Late Night With Seth Meyers and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 8:00 pm ET when the shows return to in-studio production. It features access to a growing catalog of live and on demand sports programming.
Coming Soon
New original programming roll will out on Peacock, including previously announced titles, popular shows, and a steady influx of feature films. In addition to the Peacock Originals launching with the service on July 15, Peacock announced premiere dates for more original series to debut in the coming weeks, including:
- A.P. Bio – Premiering September 3, 2020
- Departure – Premiering September 17, 2020
- Five Bedrooms – Premiering August 13, 2020
- Hitmen – Premiering August 6, 2020
Source: NBCUniversal