Comcast Launches a Slimmed-Down Peacock This Week
After announcing its new streaming service in January, Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) launched Peacock on Wednesday for Comcast subscribers before rolling it out nationally in July.
The service joins a parade of new streaming competitors -- Apple and Disney (NYSE: DIS) launched their own services last fall -- and comes at a time when streaming is in greater demand than ever before. With lockdown orders in effect across most of the country, Americans are hungry for home entertainment, which has led to a spike in streaming activity. According to data from streaming aggregator Reelgood, streaming activity from its 4 million members doubled from the beginning of March to the end of the month, and Roku (NASDAQ: ROKU) saw viewing hours jump 49% in the first quarter, with a surge at the end of March. Disney+ reached 50 million subscribers globally just five months after its launch, and European governments asked Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) to downshift to standard definition to avoid straining the continent's internet infrastructure. Comcast itself even said it had said seen a 50% increase in on-demand consumption during the pandemic.
However, despite streaming's surging popularity, Comcast's launch comes with something of a warning for the rest of the streaming universe.
Source Fool.com
