NBCUniversal’s Peacock streaming service is a week away from launching nationwide and the service has yet to secure a deal with Amazon Fire TV or Roku. What’s more, recent comments from Peacock’s Matt Strauss suggests a deal is unlikely to be done in time.
Peacock is already available to select Comcast Xfinity customers. However, the service has July 15 set for a nationwide launch in the United States. At launch, Peacock will offer three pricing tiers, including a free plan, making it a viable streaming service for many consumers, and especially those interested in NBC shows and Universal movies.
In a recent interview with CNET, Strauss addressed the Fire TV and Roku situation by stating that regardless of whether a deal is done in time, Peacock will launch on July 15 as planned. Strauss added, that for Peacock, this is a long-term play, suggesting that the company does not necessarily see the lack of Fire TV and Roku support as a major issue during the service’s early launch stages.
A similar situation to HBO Max
Although Peacock is set to be the latest streaming service to hit the market, it is not the only one, considering AT&T and WarnerMedia’s HBO Max only launched in May. Similar to the Peacock situation, HBO Max also launched without Fire TV or Roku device support. In fact, with HBO Max now in its second month, the service has still yet to agree a deal with either company.
With Peacock now seemingly getting closer to the same situation, by the end of July, it could be the case that the two latest streaming services are not directly accessible on either Fire TV or Roku, and that could pose issues for customers of both device platforms.
Fire TV and Roku are currently two of the most popular device platforms in streaming. Both have seen tremendous growth of the last couple of years and the two together, occupy a significant portion of the streaming hardware market. As a result, the lack of HBO Max and Peacock is something that will impact on a number of consumers. That is, unless a deal is done to add Peacock to Fire TV and Roku devices before the service launches next week.
Source: CNET
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