Over a year after its launch, NBCUniversal’s streaming platform Peacock is lacking the one thing that defines almost all the others – exclusive original content.
A new piece at Variety has gone into this issue with Craig Moffett, co-founder of research firm Moffett-Nathanson, who says “Peacock is simply not on a trajectory to be one of the major streaming services” and adds Comcast hasn’t shown a “willingness to invest in that business” at the levels to compete.
Netflix and Amazon are volume content producers, pumping out plenty of product, while the likes of Disney+, HBO Max and Paramount+ have all built their own solid roster on a handful of exclusives and franchises amidst their large libraries.
Peacock’s library of past content is strong, but it has only made a few forays into originals with “Brave New World” at launch, several sitcom revivals like “Punky Brewster” and “Saved By the Bell,” and more recently the likes of “Girls5eva,” “The Lost Symbol,” “One of Us Is Lying” and “Dr. Death”.
None of these has really broken through with “Dr. Death” scoring the most response thus far along with some very good critical reviews. The lack of any talk about “Lost Symbol” based on the novel by Dan Brown and having just closed out its first season run this week, has led to NBC opting to air the pilot on its network next week to try and boost viewership.
Parrot Analytics indicates Peacock scored only 1.6% of digital original demand share in the U.S. during the third quarter of this year. That’s compared to the 3.9% of Paramount+, and the 6.1%-8.9% each of the likes of the HBO Max, Apple TV+, Hulu, Amazon Prime and Disney+ services. All trail Netflix at 43.7%.
Julia Alexander, senior strategy analyst at Parrot Analytics says: “The issue with Peacock right now as it stands is that the demand for its originals is effectively nonexistent… Peacock needs the big show to get people in.”
COVID restrictions have played a part in the dearth of original content, but new shows are on the way including the high-profile Will Smith backed “Bel-Air”. Still, long term wise Moffett says NBCU will likely have to merge with another major company in the way Discovery is doing with WarnerMedia.
