Peacock Gained 10 Million Sign-Ups Since Launch

In the three months since Peacock's soft launch -- when it became available to XFinity users exclusively ahead of its national expansion on July 15 -- NBCUniversal's ad-supported streaming service has amassed 10 million sign-ups, TV Guide has learned.

Per Deadline, in a conference call on Thursday, NBCU chief Jeff Shell cautioned in that it was still too early to parse whether those subscribers would become active accounts, "but across the board we're better than expectations." Shell continued, "We didn't expect this many sign-ups. We didn't expect people to come back as frequently as they're coming back and we didn't expect people to watch as long as they're watching when they come back." Peacock is now projected to have 30 million to 35 million monthly active accounts by 2024.

While it's difficult to determine which media conglomerate's new streaming service is doing better than others -- as Peacock offers an ad-supported free tier, while others are solely paid subscription-based but just let you savor that sweet, sweet content uninterrupted -- CFO Michael Cavanagh said, "We're encouraged by the number of people we have giving Peacock a try or a taste." 

Peacock: Everything to Know About the NBCUniversal Streaming Service

In the interest of comparison, Disney+ drew 10 million sign-ups in 24 hours when it launched in November 2019. By May 2020, it had 54.5 million global subscribers thanks to original content likeThe Mandalorian and an incredible vault of franchises and classic films. Meanwhile, HBO Max, which is also ad-free and boasts just a handful of originals at this time, drew 4.1 million subscribers after its May 27 launch -- thanks, Friends fans! And Quibi, a bite-sized streaming services that crams TV episodes with major talent into 3-5 minute episodes, reportedly lost 92 percent of its early subscribers after the three month free trial period, after about 4.5 million downloads since its April debut. Obviously, none of these streaming platforms hold a candle to Netflix -- which has added 10 million new paid subscriptions amid the coronavirus pandemic and shutdown orders -- but it looks like the newcomer Peacock is poised to spread its wings in the streaming market already.