Chances are you want to sign up for Peacock (“Ugh, another streaming service!”), This is because you’re trying to watch The office – and NBC knows it.
The office is not just a big deal for college students who just in Jim and Pam’s relationship “want them, will they not?” it’s a big play for NBCUniversal subscribers. And now, the streamer’s marketing efforts reflect its importance. Instead of simply saying ‘this plan gives you access to these types of titles’, Peacock’s price is broken down by how much you personally love The Office.
Do you just want the first two seasons? The free plan will be more than enough. Looking for every episode of The office, along with excerpts never seen before? You want Peacock Premium. Want everything in that level, but without all those annoying ads (more on that in a moment)? Peacock Premium Plus is what you are looking for.
(Disclosure: Comcast, which owns NBCUniversal, is also an investor in Vox Media, The edge‘s parent company.)
In addition to the confusion associated with each level, people try to sell a service based on how much they love The office looks … well, not great. Especially when people start reporting to Peacock and stay frustrated. For example: Peacock Premium Plus is not exactly ad-free. Although NBCUniversal notes that the Peacock subredd in an indemnity on the sign-up page is full of irritated customers who believed that the whole experience would be ad-free, only to discover that “a small amount of programming will still contain ads.” As a technical reporter and columnist Walt Mossberg tweeted, the move from Netflix to Peacock ‘reduced the viewing experience.’
The office was previously available on Netflix, where it remained one of the most watched shows on any streaming service for several years. Unlike Peacock, Netflix is also very easy to use. People pay on average about $ 14 a month and get access to everything without ads on almost any device they want.
Peacock is not the only streamer whose ‘ad-free’ platform contains ads. According to the company’s website, Hulu’s ad-free plan is being offered on a certain number of programs from our streaming library due to streaming rights. Currently, there are two programs that contain ads: Grey’s Anatomy and Agents of SHIELD. By comparison, more ads appear on Peacock’s “ad-free” level on shows and movies. NBC probably has a similar contractual obligation to show ads on some programs, but there is no warning icon or sign to indicate what programming an ad will have until one appears.
We are in a moment of transition for the industry. There has never been more to stream, but it is also more fragmented than ever before (at least in the United States) as each conglomerate tries to find its place in a thriving market. Everything used to be on Netflix or Hulu. Now everything is somewhere, but it’s left to customers to find out exactly where their favorite show or movie is and whether it’s really worth adding another $ 10 subscription to their monthly expenses. In other words: is The office or Friends really worth buying a Peacock or HBO Max subscription? This is what individual customers have to decide on.
It is important to note that the whole of The office is currently available for $ 70 on iTunes. If you just sign up for Peacock to watch The office, there are better ways.