Peacock streaming service is coming to the UK, free to Sky and Now customers

Peacock streaming service is coming to the UK, free to Sky and Now customers
(Image credit: Sky/Comcast)

The Peacock streaming service is coming to the UK, and it'll be free (sort of) to watch. Sky and Comcast (parent company of Peacock-owner NBCUniversal) have inked a deal to bring the service to Sky and Now customers at no extra cost. 

It'll also be available through Sky Ticket, which serves viewers in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Italy, Austria, and Switzerland. In all, more than 20 million Sky customers will get access to Peacock at no extra charge.

The downside? Adverts. According to Sky's press release, Peacock's programming will be ad-supported (as in the US), whether it's viewed through Sky Q, Now or Sky Ticket.

The news comes as Peacock surpassed 54 million subscribers in its native US, where it launched last summer. This is its first expansion outside the US.

Peacock offers over 7000 hours of programming, and while it does offer original content such as Rutherford Falls, its best-known shows are oldies but goodies: Saved By The Bell, The Office, Suits, Downton Abbey, Kardashians, Young Rock, Equalizer and more. It also has movies from studios such as DreamWorks Animation, Illumination, and, of course, Universal Pictures.

Peacock will launch on Sky later this year. In the US, it doesn't support 4K, HDR or Dolby Atmos formats, so we wouldn't expect these features in its UK iteration.

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Joe Svetlik

Joe has been writing about tech for 17 years, first on staff at T3 magazine, then in a freelance capacity for Stuff, The Sunday Times Travel Magazine, Men's Health, GQ, The Mirror, Trusted Reviews, TechRadar and many more (including What Hi-Fi?). His specialities include all things mobile, headphones and speakers that he can't justifying spending money on.