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The curtain has been unveiled on Comcast’s NBCUniversal new streaming service Peacock. There’s a lot of news to unpack which has been excellently done by other outlets but we wanted to take a look at the impact Peacock will specifically have on Netflix with regards to content and where it ends up.
We’re going to skip over some of the key facts on NBC’s new Peacock service as you’re better serviced by CordCuttersNew’s excellent breakdown of the new pricing and advertising structure.
How we’ll breakdown the impact on Netflix is in four ways, what content Netflix is standing to lose, what Netflix failed to gain, what Netflix is keeping for the short to long term and what’s left for Netflix to maybe gain.
You won’t be finding any expert business analysis in this point, we’re purely talking about from a content perspective.
Note: this article is specifically for the United States. Other regions will likely remain unaffected until any international rollout for the streaming service.
What’s Leaving Netflix for Peacock
First up, what’s leaving. Two of the highest-profile removals have already been announced in advance with those being The Office and Parks and Recreation.
Here’s the list of content set to be removed in the immediate future, content that has left Netflix already or confirmed to be removed at some point.
- The Office, the US remake of the UK show starring Ricky Gervais is perhaps the biggest removal of all. The mockumentary series is set to leave Netflix on January 1st, 2021.
- Parks and Recreation is the next biggest which is set to depart in October.
- Frasier departed Netflix at the end of December 2019.
- Parenthood departed Netflix in September 2019.
- Cheers is expected to leave Netflix at some point in 2020.
- Bates Motel was included in the main list of TV acquisitions but hasn’t been confirmed to leave Netflix yet although it’s now likely in the short term.
- The West Wing is headed for HBO Max and is set to leave Netflix in December 2020.
Some of NBC’s subsidiaries such as Syfy and USA Network will likely see its remaining titles leave on a schedule akin to other networks on Netflix.
It also looks like Netflix is keeping hold of NBC’s Good Girls, The Blacklist, Marlon, Taken, The Night Shift and The Good Place for a few more years.
What Netflix has lost out on
This one is more speculative in the sense it implies Netflix a) had a chance at gaining the licenses to these shows and b) Netflix wanted them in the first place.
- Two and Half Men from Warner Brothers was probably most expected to head to HBO Max later this year but was quietly mentioned in the acquisitions.
- Dick Wolf’s Wolf Entertainment collection was thought to be up for general grabs however Peacock has stolen that with all episodes of Law and Order (and its various spinoffs) and Chicago (and its various spinoffs)
- Paramount Network’s Yellowstone has also been tapped for the new service.
- Future Dreamworks TV series looks to be headed to Peacock (after its deal with Hulu?). Netflix still has around 4-5 new titles coming out from the studio.
- Dreamworks movies were snatched from Netflix in 2018 by Hulu but now looks like they’re now headed for Peacock instead. Whether Illumination Entertainment’s first window is included is unclear.
- Universal Pictures titles will come to Peacock in the first window alongside, it seems, HBO which has an output deal up to 2023. This likely rules out Netflix getting that.
What Netflix could still get
Finally, we’ll take a look at some of the shows not announced for Peacock (but were on NBC at some point) that Netflix could still nab.
- Seinfeld – Netflix has already nabbed the rights for this one away from Hulu for 2021. A big loss for Peacock.
- The Bill Cosby Show hasn’t been announced for Peacock despite airing there. However, it’s likely a poison chalice this one for obvious reasons.
- Community wasn’t announced for Peacock and the rights are currently up for grabs from Sony TV. Could Netflix get this to be another replacement for Friends/The Office?
- ER hasn’t been pegged for either HBO Max or Peacock as of yet. It currently resides at Hulu but Netflix could get it back?
That’s all we have, for now, we’ll, of course, keep you up-to-date with any changes over time.
For now, let us know if you’re going to be getting Peacock in the comments down below.
