Peacock appears to have had a more promising start than other launched-in-pandemic-times streamers.
Analytics firm Sensor Tower didn’t provide exact download figures, but told Forbes that on the streaming service’s debut day (July 15), it topped Apple’s App Store charts, becoming the top-downloaded entertainment app for iPhones and iPads. It also became the No. 2 (iPhone) and No. 3 (iPad) top-downloaded free apps across the entire store.
Quibi, for comparison’s sake, became the second most-downloaded entertainment app, and the No. 4 most-downloaded free app. (It launched on April 6.) And when HBO Max rolled out May 27, it too reached No. 4 on the App Store’s free app chart. Its iPhone app peaked at No. 3 in the entertainment category.
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Does this mean that Peacock netted more launch day users than Quibi or HBO Max? Not necessarily. But its performance does make it “second only to Disney+ among all new subscription video on demand app launches since 2014,” Sensor Tower told Forbes. (Disney+’s iPhone and iPad apps both held the No. 1 spot in free and entertainment when it launched last November; the company later revealed it had brought in ten million users that day alone.)
A trailer for one of Peacock’s launch originals
It’s not necessarily surprising that Peacock may have edged out Quibi and HBO Max. Quibi launched with an attractive three-month-long free trial, but also left a bunch of people baffled about what it is, why it is, and what it offers. HBO Max has a lot of fan-favorite content (Game of Thrones, Westworld), but at $15 per month, is one of the most expensive streamers in the market. Peacock sort of combines the best of both, as it gives a whopping 13,000 hours of ad-supported content, including iconic TV series and films, to anyone who signs up for a free-tier account.
NBCUniversal told Forbes that it isn’t sharing download figures, but did have an update about the service’s distribution. Peacock, like HBO Max, has struggled to negotiate with Roku and Amazon, so it isn’t available on either connected-TV service. Soon, though, the Premium tier–which normally costs $4.99 per month and is ad-lite–will be bundled into paid TV offerings from NBCUniversal partners like Comcast and Cox, the company said.
This move will bring Peacock 24 million new users, it added. And while they won’t be paying $4.99 per month, they’ll still contribute to Peacock’s revenue, as Premium users must watch five minutes of ads per hour of content.
