YouTube Premium is adding Peacock: What it means for live sports and streaming
YouTube and NBCUniversal have announced a deal bundling Peacock Premium into YouTube Premium's $15.99 per month plan starting early next year, adding NFL, NBA, MLB, and shows like SNL and Love Island.
TL;DR: YouTube and NBCUniversal have struck a deal that will bundle Peacock Premium into YouTube Premium's $15.99 per month subscription starting early next year, adding access to live sports (NFL, NBA, MLB) and shows like Law & Order, SNL, and Love Island — no separate Peacock subscription required.
Starting early next year, YouTube Premium is about to become much more valuable.
YouTube and NBCUniversal have announced a deal that folds Peacock Premium directly into the $15.99 per month YouTube Premium subscription — meaning if you're already paying for YouTube Premium, you won't need a separate Peacock subscription to access its content.
The bundle brings a big chunk of NBCUniversal's content into the mix:
Entertainment staples like Law & Order, Saturday Night Live, and Love Island
Peacock's broader library of movies and originals
If you've been paying for Peacock separately, or skipping it because it felt like one subscription too many, this changes that math pretty significantly.
Peacock has struggled to compete with the bigger streaming players — it currently sits at 48 million subscribers, compared to YouTube Premium and YouTube Music's combined 125 million. By folding into YouTube Premium rather than selling it as an add-on, NBCUniversal is essentially betting that YouTube's scale can do what Peacock hasn't managed on its own.
SEE ALSO: Alert the group chat: You can stream Lollapalooza live from your couchYouTube Premium already has multiple tiers — an $8.99 per month Premium Lite plan and a $26.99 per month family plan. If this partnership works out, YouTube could end up bundling in more streaming services down the line, rather than staying as a video platform with a premium tier.
Worth noting too: Peacock just turned a profit for the first time last quarter, and this deal is the latest in a string of partnerships it has struck recently, including bundles with Apple TV, Prime Video, and Roku — all part of the same push to get more eyes on Peacock.
Either way, this deal shows just how far streaming platforms are willing to go to keep up — and Peacock finally has a real shot at the audience it's been chasing.