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New streaming service: NBC Universal launches in April 2020

26.7.2019

Translation: Patrik Stainbrook

Another titan of television is joining the scramble for streaming dominance: Comcast's subsidiary NBC Universal. Plans to do this were first announced in January 2019. The launch date and some further details were only recently added.

The broadcasting company NBC Universal has announced the start date of its upcoming streaming service: April 2020. It doesn't have a name yet. NBC Universal is a subsidiary of Comcast, the largest cable operator in the United States. The NBC-Universal group includes the feature film production studio Universal Pictures and the animation forge Illumination Entertainment.

Comcast Corporation headquarters St. Paul, Minnesota.
Source: Shutterstock.com

Unlike streaming services such as Netflix or Disney Plus, NBC Universal's service will also be available as a package deal with a Pay-TV channel. It's still unclear which Pay-TV will be included internationally. Industry experts are betting on the British television company Sky, which acquired NBC Universal's parent company Comcast last September.

Free of charge, but with ads

If NBC Universal's offer is included in your Pay-TV subscription, then the entire service is free of charge. However, there will be advertisements. Unlike linear television, where TV advertising is allowed for 15 minutes per hour, NBC Universal will be limited to three to five minutes per hour. With a surcharge of 5 dollars per subscription, advertising can also be switched off completely.

If the streaming service is subscribed to without a Pay-TV subscription, it'll run you 12 dollars a month. But you won't have to endure ads.

What could be possible

The streaming service includes NBC Universal-owned content, i.e. films such as those from the «Jurassic World» or «Fast and Furious» franchises, as well as Illumination animation films such as «Despicable Me» and «Pets». On top of that, there will also be NBC Universal serials such as «The Office», «Suits» and «Queen of the South». In addition, content from other providers is to be licensed, as Comcast announced to industry magazine The Verge.

As a result, the upcoming wealth of streaming services is steadily growing larger and larger. Already existing streaming giants such as Netflix, Apple TV Plus or Amazon Prime Video will be joined by Disney Plus in November 2019 and Time Warner's HBO Max around spring 2020 – at least in the USA.

There's no end in sight.

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Luca Fontana

Senior Editor

Luca.Fontana@digitecgalaxus.ch

I write about technology as if it were cinema, and about films as if they were real life. Between bits and blockbusters, I’m after stories that move people, not just generate clicks. And yes – sometimes I listen to film scores louder than I probably should.

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What could be possible

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