• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, June 27, 2023

As of Monday, June 26, Comcast officially cut off free access to its Peacock Premium streamer for many Xfinity X1 internet and Flex customers. who’ve had that access since Peacock launched in beta in April 2020.

Comcast, which initially gave that free access to about 32 million Xfinity and Flex customers, announced back in February that it would be cutting the freebie in June.  

Comcast is, however, offering those cut off a free “sampling” of Peacock content for an unspecified period of time, and a discounted offer of $2.99 per month for 12 months for those who sign up by Aug. 25. Peacock Premium, which has ads, normally costs $4.99 per month; the “fewer”-ads Premium Plus version goes for $9.99 per month.

Comcast is also offering several other options to avoid losing free Peacock access.

Those who already have or sign up for the premium-priced Xfinity with Gigabit Speeds service are eligible for two more years of no-additional-cost Peacock service.  

“Diamond” and “Platinum” Xfinity Rewards customers can also opt to use some of their rewards to get Peacock Premium.

In addition, those who have signed up for or switched to the new $20-per-month NOW TV streaming service now available to Xfinity Internet customers get Peacock Premium, as well as cable channels including A&E, AMC, Hallmark and Warner Bros. Discovery, as part of that subscription.

After shutting down the Peacock free, ad-supported tier in February, Comcast reported that paid subscribers were up 60% year-over-year in Q1, to about 22 million.

Analysts have long assumed that many of the “paid” Peacock subscribers reported since its launch were those getting the service as part of their paid Xfinity and Flex cable subscriptions. At the end of Q1, Comcast's U.S. video customer base was down to 15.5 million. But Comcast said its strategy now calls for focusing on more profitable overall relationships that include broadband, wireless or video service. 

The extent of NBCUniversal’s progress in growing stand-alone paid Peacock subscribers through aggressive promotion and advertising may become clearer when Comcast reports second-quarter results on July 27.