As part of IGN’s State of Streaming event, we’re taking a fresh look at the top streaming services and what they’re offering subscribers in 2022 Peacock streaming platform as of 2020and see what’s changed (for better or for worse) in this updated review.
While some streaming heavyweights have been around long enough to get their driver’s licenses, Peacock has barely finished teething. Launched as a kind of dumping ground for NBC content in 2020, Peacock’s biggest selling point was that it was the new home of “The Office” — and yes, that meant it reclaimed that price tag from Netflix. This was met with the kind of groans you would expect; In short, it wasn’t a very exciting offer and a lot of people were depressed when they realized they still had money to spend Another streaming app.
But the last two years have been kind to our feathered friend. Peacock has all but given up on its free-to-watch ambitions, expanding its catalog of original content and carving out a niche as the home of WWE, Bravo, Real Housewives, and other programs with cult followings. Oh, and it has The Office.
Peacocks TV Shows and Movies
While its lineup is still relatively modest compared to heavyweight competitors like Hulu, HBO Max, and Netflix, Peacock has carved a niche for itself by bringing together some of the most loyal fan bases. Its catalog features a wide variety of reality TV and sitcoms, a small but interesting collection of originals, and a robust WWE hub. It also has a few live sports including golf, rugby, Premier League games and NFL games.
This ever-growing list of original films and TV shows includes The Resort, Meet Cute, Vampire Academy, Below Deck: Down Under, Vengeance, and Love Island: USA, among others. It also features one of the funniest shows around any Streaming platform: MacGruber.
Peacock shines brightest through the aforementioned NBC sitcoms, which include the full runs of The Office, Psych, Parks & Rec, 30 Rock, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and Modern Family, to name a few. That’s not all – Peacock has created exclusive Extended Episodes with new bonus scenes, affectionately known as “Superfan Episodes”. There’s also a bizarre 24-hour broadcast channel called “Office Shorts,” which is filled with – you guessed it – clips from The Office. And because NBC Universal owns Peacock and The Office, there is little risk that any of this will disappear from service any time soon.
In addition, it also contains a lot of hidden non-comedic gems, like the 2019 drama Waves by Trey Edward Shults, the 2022 film Northman by Robert Eggers or the incredible and engrossing horror mystery The Invitation, also from this year originates. However, this is a strength that is not being exploited; Many of these will likely remain hidden as Peacock’s UI doesn’t do a good job of bringing them to the surface.
Peacock’s user interface
Peacock’s interface is similar to many others we’ve seen, consisting of a large carousel of featured content at the top and individually themed lockers, such as True Crime Junkies and Drama Kings & Queens, at the bottom. But in 2022, Peacock is also uniquely strong and static by comparison. There are no auto-playing videos on the homepage, a large majority of the lockers are manually curated (not algorithmically) and there is no way to tell Peacock that Leeds United is your favorite Premier League team so you can see more of them and less about Manchester United.
The user interface also differs slightly depending on which device you are using. For example, there’s a key toggle button on all devices that filters between on-demand video and a type of TV Lite broadcast network called “Channels.” On the iPad, this switch floats at the bottom of the screen. But on a desktop in a browser, it sits in a row next to the top navigation — which is doubly confusing because the toggle works differently than the buttons it sits next to.
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There are a number of little ways the UI is so irritating. In the browser, you need to press search and then click on the actual search bar before you can start typing your search. Switching between browsing and channels occasionally takes an oddly long time to fill. Whenever I returned to Peacock.com via a browser, I almost always had to log back in, no matter how little time had passed. Search is separated between “Results” and “Clips” – which is confusingly worded and unintuitive. When you click a special “Extras” button on a show or movie, you often only find a trailer. Again, these are all minor things, but if you repeatedly encounter these tiny annoyances while using the app, their effect is cumulative.
peacock price
One of the cheapest streaming services, Peacock costs $4.99 per month for its ad-supported plan (Plus) or $9.99 for its ad-free plan (Premium Plus). There is also a current offer to get 12 Months Plus for $1.99 per month. Comcast customers (which own Peacock and NBC) and qualifying partners such as Cox and Spectrum can also access Peacock Premium at no additional cost.
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But you can also sign up to watch 10,000 hours of select (admittedly limited) Peacock programming for free — and the best part is, you don’t even have to give them your credit card. While the free content is limited to a small percentage of movies and pilots, it’s a great way to get a feel for the app.
This seems like the right time to point out that I am whole and complete to hate Ads – there’s rarely an ad-free plan that I wouldn’t sign up for if given the chance. But even I had to admit that Peacock’s ad-supported plan is fairly unobtrusive — a 30-minute episode of MacGruber only got me a 60-second ad or two. But that really depends on the show you’re watching, as Chicago PD had four commercial breaks in a single 42-minute show, and The Voice had a staggering 10 commercial breaks in its 84-minute season premiere.
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