Update on Peacock/Network Timeline

["Evil Brood" Jackson Vanik]

Writeup is from F4WOnline:


WWE announced Monday that the WWE Network will launch on NBCU's Peacock streaming service starting Thursday, March 18th with the standalone service ending on April 4th.

However, it appears the automatic migration for current Network subscribers that was thought to be part of the move is not happening after all, confirming recent reports that said as much.

From the release:

"To continue streaming WWE Network content, fans will need to sign up for Peacock. As previously announced, WWE Network, including all PPVs, will be available on Peacock Premium for $4.99—a $5.00/month savings. Starting today, Peacock is also offering the WWE Universe deeper savings for a limited time at www.PeacockTV.com/WWE."

The WWE Network will remain active for U.S. subscribers through April 4th with April's WrestleMania 37 fully exclusive on Peacock. It's unclear if the move will automatically cancel an existing WWE Network subscription.

After signing up, Peacock streamers can access every PPV show from the last calendar year, the most recent/current episodes of Broken Skull Sessions, Chronicle and Icons, NXT the day after it airs on USA, both Raw and SmackDown episodes 30 days after they air live, WWE documentaries and more. The release said the entire WWE Network archive will be available on Peacock by this August's SummerSlam.

Peacock's free tier will also feature a WWE channel with select WWE original shows, reality TV shows like Total Bellas, recent in-ring content, and new episodes of Raw Talk and The Bump.

In late-January, WWE and NBCU announced the Network would move to Peacock in a deal rumored to be five years and more than $1 billion.

[fw91]

So we won’t get the full network until August? That sucks

[Push R Truth]

My cynical ass thinks they'll spend the next 5 years slowly adding the content we currently already have and pretending likes its new "NEW EXCLUSIVE TO THE PEECOCK!"

[Deleted]

I'm kind of unsure if I'm going to sign up or not? If nothing else I'll probably drop the $5 on Takeover and Mania, since all that for $5 is a pretty good deal, but I know of nothing else Peacock has that I care that much about and I already have enough streaming services I'm not using.

Don't really care about the archive content to be honest. Like theoretically I do but any time I do have a Network subscription active I basically never actually use it.

[eJm]

Like, I get it but...this feels like a deal it would have been better to take your time with rather than rush it out for a certain timeframe without the stuff that made the network attractive to people.

But, well, streaming services launching before they really should is pretty much the MO for literally all of them.

[Feyrhausen]

Mar 8, 2021 13:36:21 GMT -5 eJm said:

Like, I get it but...this feels like a deal it would have been better to take your time with rather than rush it out for a certain timeframe without the stuff that made the network attractive to people.

But, well, streaming services launching before they really should is pretty much the MO for literally all of them.

Sounds to be like they want to get Peacocks numbers up before the next quarter financials.

[eJm]

Mar 8, 2021 13:39:23 GMT -5 Feyrhausen said:

Mar 8, 2021 13:36:21 GMT -5 eJm said:

Like, I get it but...this feels like a deal it would have been better to take your time with rather than rush it out for a certain timeframe without the stuff that made the network attractive to people.

But, well, streaming services launching before they really should is pretty much the MO for literally all of them.

Sounds to be like they want to get Peacocks numbers up before the next quarter financials.

I appreciate you putting that through the CorporoSpeak 3000. Completely forgot the first quarter techically ends this month.

[cornettesracket]

Well for once the US are getting shafted and the rest of the world has it easy. I’m happy out that in Ireland I can just keep going with the network as we have it.

[Jumpin' Jesse Walsh]

I mean, I can live a few months without all the archived content being there, but that’s also one of the main reasons I subscribe to the Network anyway so the news isn’t sitting well with me at the moment.

[ayumidah]

If you're new to Peacock and sign up by April 9th, Premium is 50% off for four months so it's 9.99 for 4 months. My subscription ends around then so I'll prolly subscribe early April.

["Evil Brood" Jackson Vanik]

I wonder how many Network subscribers they'll lose in the transition from just pure laziness.

[salz4life]

Mar 8, 2021 14:04:02 GMT -5 Jumpin' Jesse Walsh said:

I mean, I can live a few months without all the archived content being there, but that’s also one of the main reasons I subscribe to the Network anyway so the news isn’t sitting well with me at the moment.

Same here.

I just have a really bad feeling this is going to end up being a clusterf***

[polarbearpete]

Sign up in the next month and you get 4 months for $9.99 total.

[Feyrhausen]

Mar 8, 2021 14:10:21 GMT -5 "Evil Brood" Jackson Vanik said:

I wonder how many Network subscribers they'll lose in the transition from just pure laziness.

I would think a decent amount. Streaming services rely on apathy. People signing up and never cancelling.

That why Netflix cancels so many shows so quickly. They debut a new show and hope a bunch of folks sign up to see it. Then they cancel it hoping all the new subscribers are either satisfied or too lazy to cancel. Then they put money into a new show to hopefully get more new subscribers.

In this case there is probably a good bit of Network subscribers who rarely watch but are too lazy to cancel. This takes care of their problem.

["Evil Brood" Jackson Vanik]

Mar 8, 2021 13:34:22 GMT -5 Push R Truth said:

My cynical ass thinks they'll spend the next 5 years slowly adding the content we currently already have and pretending likes its new "NEW EXCLUSIVE TO THE PEECOCK!"

They said everything would be up by Summerslam...but they didn't say WHICH Summerslam! 

[Sir Woodrow]

Mar 8, 2021 14:10:21 GMT -5 "Evil Brood" Jackson Vanik said:

I wonder how many Network subscribers they'll lose in the transition from just pure laziness.

I'm wondering how many subscribers they'll lose that just look at Peacock and go "nah, f*** this"

[Clutchhausen]

I hate this.

[häšhtå.gdālėÿ]

Finally switched my account over with the 4 months for 9.99 deal. Time to start binge watching The Office.

[Jumpin' Jesse Walsh]

It feels like every news story since the initial announcement should’ve just started with “Well, actually” in the headline.

["Evil Brood" Jackson Vanik]

Some more details:

The Verge has additional details on the merger, reporting that there will be no more match markers on events. Fans can currently skip to certain segments or matches when watching classic events, but on Peacock, events will be uploaded as one long video.

Additionally, the search feature won't be as comprehensive, at least not initially. Fans have complained in the past that the current search feature on WWE Network already has issues in narrowing down or organizing exactly what they are looking for.