Peacock Overhaul Reportedly on the Way

Peacock may be unrecognizable in 2022, with an overhaul to the app and sweeping changes to the features on the streaming service. According to an internal strategy document obtained by Business Insider, executives at NBCUniversal are considering a complete "relaunch" of Peacock in 2022. The main objective of this "strategy deck" is "mass premium customer acquisition."

This Peacock relaunch would reportedly come with fresh branding and a new advertising campaign, intent on moving the company up the food chain in the so-called "streaming wars." Functionally speaking, it would use customer data obtained since Peacock's launch to re-tool some of its features, with a greater emphasis on customer preferences on the premium side and on advertisers' preferences on the ad-supported side. The strategy deck says that Peacock could be in the "top 4 must-have [streaming vide on demand]" platforms if it could secure more paying subscribers.

A major part of the leaked strategy deck reportedly concerns the Peacock interface itself, noting that many users found the app "confusing." While there are no specifics to see yet, the company plans to overhaul the look and usability of Peacock altogether, presumably across different operating systems, including mobile, streaming sticks, Smart TVs and so on.

The company also intends to appeal to viewers' enthusiasm and sense of online community with a new marketing catchphrase: "For All Fankind." A source at NBC said that the company is already courting marketing agencies with this slogan and accompanying themes. It is providing prospective partners with a long list of issues to highlight and others to avoid.

However, NBC can't ignore the fact that Peacock is a key destination for sports fans, and it will make some changes there as well. A lot of the strategies in this document relate to the upcoming 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China, and how coverage will be different this time from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Focus groups complained that they could only watch the highlights of many events when they expected a streaming service to host every moment of the competition, so that may be in the plan this time around.

There are many other aspects of the Peacock plan to consider, but the central takeaway is that there will be big, ambitious changes with the goal of getting more paid subscribers. Peacock intends to compete with the giants of its industry including Netflix and Hulu, and it has a long way to go. Still, with its catalog of incredible content and existing audience, it just might have a shot.