Peacock's Streaming Plans Are Getting More Expensive — Again
Peacock is raising prices across all of its streaming plans starting August 18, 2026. This is the fourth time the service has raised prices in four years (Variety).
Here is what changes. The cheapest plan with ads, called Select, goes from $7.99 to $8.99 per month. The mid-tier Premium plan with ads moves from $10.99 to $12.99. The top plan, Premium Plus, which has no ads, increases from $16.99 to $19.99 (The Verge). Annual plans are affected too. New and returning subscribers see the new prices right away. Existing subscribers will see the change on their next billing date on or after September 17 (The Verge).
Peacock has raised prices every year since 2023. The first increase came in August 2023, when the ad-supported Premium plan went up by $1 to $5.99 (Variety). In July 2024, annual prices went up, with Premium moving from $59.99 to $79.99 per year and Premium Plus from $119.99 to $139.99 (Variety). A third increase followed in July 2025, when the ad-supported Premium tier went up $3 to $10.99 and Premium Plus rose as well (Variety). Now, about thirteen months later, all tiers are going up again.
Peacock said the price change is meant to "create the best experience for viewers, remain competitive, and deliver unique content" (The Verge). The company has been adding new features alongside the price hikes: vertical video for NBA streams, a "Bravoverse" feed with clips from shows like Love Island, and mobile games. Peacock is also testing perks for long-term subscribers and will soon be included as part of a YouTube Premium subscription (The Verge).
The price changes come as NBCUniversal, Peacock's parent company, reported that Peacock turned a profit for the first time and reached 48 million subscribers (The Verge). Peacock and NBCUniversal are also preparing to split from Comcast next year (The Verge). Variety first reported the August 2026 price increase (The Verge).
The broader picture here is worth stepping back on. Four price increases in four years adds up. The Select tier, which started at $4.99, now costs $8.99. That is an 80 percent total increase. Premium Plus has gone from roughly $9.99 to $19.99 over the same period. Whether the new features — vertical NBA video, mobile games, a Bravo clip feed — are worth that much more is something each subscriber will decide with their wallet.
The business reasoning is easier to follow. Peacock is now profitable and has 48 million subscribers, so it no longer needs to keep prices low just to attract new users. Netflix showed that once a streaming service is making money, it can raise prices without losing too many subscribers, as long as people can see the service is still adding shows and content. The upcoming split from Comcast adds another reason: a standalone NBCUniversal will want Peacock's revenue to look as strong as possible.
The YouTube Premium deal is the most interesting part of this announcement. By including Peacock as part of a YouTube Premium subscription, NBCUniversal gets access to Google's huge base of paying subscribers without having to convince each person to sign up for Peacock on its own. That could help keep subscribers who might otherwise cancel after the price increase, especially those on the cheaper ad-supported plans.
Peacock's website currently lists the Select annual plan at $89.99, the Premium annual at $129.99, and the Premium Plus annual at $199.99 (peacocktv.com). A student discount offers Premium at $5.99 per month for 12 months (peacocktv.com). Whether those annual rates and discounts will also go up is something existing annual subscribers will find out at their next renewal.
For now, the pattern is clear: raise prices, add features, point to new content, and rely on partnerships and customer habit to keep subscribers. It has worked for three rounds. The fourth starts today.
