YouTube appears poised to turn its YouTube Premium subscription product into a new bundler of entertainment.
On Monday, YouTube and NBCUniversal announced a new deal that will see Peacock Premium included with the $15.99 per month YouTube Premium service beginning early next year, potentially bringing millions of new subscribers and viewers to the service by leveraging YouTube’s platform.
The deal brings a slew of premium content to the YouTube Premium subscription, including live sports like the NFL, NBA and MLB and entertainment like Law & Order, Saturday Night Live and Love Island. It also has the potential to dramatically scale Peacock, which remains smaller than many of its streaming competitors.
Peacock has 48 million subscribers, while YouTube Premium and YouTube Music have a combined 125 million subscribers, though they don’t break out how many each of those offerings have.
The agreement, which expands on the deal the company inked with YouTube parent company Google last year, will also extend the entertainment company’s programming deal with YouTube TV, while bringing some of YouTube’s offerings to Comcast Xfinity and Xumo platforms.
There’s also a notable sports and production element to the deal, with NBC Sports agreeing to stream some live sporting events on its YouTube channels, and with NBC agreeing to serve as the production partner for select live events on YouTube.
YouTube will also bundle some of the company’s International streaming offerings like Universal+ and Hayu in select markets.
Peacock previously struck a deal to be available within YouTube Primetime Channels for $10.99 per month, but the new deal significantly expands that accessibility. Instead of YouTube simply selling Peacock as a service, it will now be folded into one of YouTube’s signature subscription offerings.
The deal also raises questions about how youTube may tweak its Premium offering in the future. It currently offers a “Premium Lite” service for $8.99 per month, as well as a $26.99 per month family plan. Including Peacock certainly suggests that it could be open to striking commercial arrangements with other streaming platforms too.
Peacock, which turned a profit for the first time last quarter, has been inking a slew of deals over the last year, including a bundle with Apple TV, and deals with Prime Video and Roku alongside the Google deal.
“This partnership brings NBCUniversal’s world-class content and iconic franchises to YouTube’s unmatched scale and global platforms,” said Mike Cavanagh, co-CEO of Comcast Corporation. “We’re excited to deepen our relationship with YouTube through a collaboration that reflects our strategy of partnering with industry leaders to drive sustained growth for NBCUniversal.”
“We’re incredibly excited to expand our partnership with NBCUniversal to redefine what a modern entertainment subscription can be for consumers,” said Neal Mohan, YouTube’s CEO “YouTube Premium brings your favorite creators, artists and cultural moments together uninterrupted, and now, we’re pairing that ultimate viewing experience with Peacock’s expansive lineup of live sports like Sunday Night Football and the NBA, blockbuster Universal movies, and original series. This makes it easier than ever for our members to find and watch all the premium content they love, all in one place.”
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