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The ad-supported streaming service will be available at no cost to NBCUniversal’s pay-TV subscribers in the U.S. and major international markets. Comcast Cable and Sky will provide the service to their 52 million subscribers. An ad-free version will also be available for a fee. Viewers without pay TV service can buy a subscription to the service.

NBCU will continue to license content to other studios and platforms, while retaining rights to certain titles for its new service.

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NBCUniversal is planning to launch its upcoming streaming service in April, with The Office as one of its tentpole programs, CEO Steve Burke said Thursday. He said the service would initially mostly live off licensed content and only some original programming, making it "very different" from Netflix.

He made the comment on a call with Wall Street analysts after cable giant Comcast, which is led by chairman and CEO Brian Roberts, reported higher second-quarter earnings for entertainment unit NBCU and European pay TV giant Sky, which the company acquired late last year.

Burke said his team was “hard at work” on the advertising-based streaming service, targeting the launch for April. He said more than 500 people are working on it now, using Sky's Now TV streaming platform. He said the company had a “very innovative way of coming into the market” and “very attractive financial aspects.”

Comcast recently said that NBC cult favorite The Office will leave Netflix when its current deal with the streamer expires at the end of 2020 to exclusively stream on the forthcoming NBCU direct-to-consumer platform. NBCU's streaming platform will retain exclusive domestic streaming rights to The Office for five years, paying $100 million per year to stream the series after outbidding Netflix. Asked about the deal, Burke said Thursday that according to Nielsen, the series is the No. 1 show on Netflix, accounting for 5 percent of its overall "volume." With the show having aired on NBC and therefore being part of its DNA, he said, "we see The Office as one of the tentpole programs on our platform."

Asked about the role of original programming on the NBCU streaming service and how similar it will be to Netflix, Burke said: "Our service is very different from Netflix." He added: "The vast majority of our volume I expect to be acquired. We are spending some money on originals. … We have a number of originals that are actually tied to libraries that we currently own. But I would expect the vast majority of the consumption in the beginning would be acquired [shows].”

He also hinted that the streaming service would have some "innovative" elements, but declined to provide further details, citing competitive reasons.

NBCUniversal on Thursday recorded adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), the profitability metric the company uses, of $2.32 billion, up 8.1 percent. The entertainment arm posted higher EBITDA across all its units, including the film division, which posted lower box-office figures for the period. Quarterly revenue declined 0.8 percent to $8.2 billion.

"NBCUniversal successfully completed another record upfront, highlighted by overall volume up 10 percent to nearly $7 billion and a double-digit price increase at NBC Prime," the company highlighted. "Once again we led the market on both volume and price," Roberts said.

At Sky, adjusted EBITDA rose 13.4 percent. Total customer relationships increased 4.4 percent to 24 million, including net additions of 304,000 in the latest quarter, a 197,000 improvement from the second quarter of 2018. Management said subscriber growth mostly came from streaming costumers and was driven by the appeal of Game of Thrones and Chernobyl.

Comcast's cable systems recorded a video subscriber loss of 224,000, but their broadband subscriber base increased by 209,000.

"I am very pleased with our terrific second quarter results and the continued, successful execution of our strategy," Roberts said. "Each of our businesses demonstrated healthy growth in adjusted EBITDA, contributing to a double-digit increase in adjusted earnings per share. Our company’s consistent, profitable growth is fueled by our leading scale in direct customer relationships and premier content. We now have nearly 55 million high-value direct customer relationships, including the 456,000 net additions in the second quarter, and a vast library of intellectual property and new productions that are extremely popular across generations and geographies. Our teams throughout the company continue to collaborate to make themselves and each other even stronger, and I’m excited about our growth opportunities ahead."

On Thursday's earnings conference call, Roberts said the company has made "great progress" towards the launch of the upcoming advertising-based NBCUniversal streaming service. “The strength of our assets and leadership across our businesses, combined with access to tens of millions of customers will lower both our cost of entry and execution risk as we deliver a truly special offering," he said.

While there is "significant competition and change" in the pay TV eco-system right now, “for years, we have felt that video over the internet is more friend than foe” and "plays to our strength," Roberts said, adding that the company has a "vast library of [intellectual property] and new productions that are extremely popular” across geographies and generations.

NBCUniversal on Thursday said that its film unit revenue fell nearly 15 percent to $1.5 billion in the second quarter, primarily due to a 53 percent drop in theatrical revenue, "reflecting the strength of releases in last year's second quarter, including Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, partially offset by the performance of The Secret Life of Pets 2 in this year's second quarter." Adjusted EBITDA in the film unit still jumped 33 percent to $183 million, driven by "lower programming and production costs."

Broadcast TV unit revenue edged up 0.5 percent to $2.4 billion in the second quarter thanks to higher distribution and other revenue, partially offset by lower advertising and content licensing revenue. Distribution and other revenue increased nearly 15 percent, primarily due to higher retransmission consent fees. Ad revenue fell 4.2 percent, though, "primarily due to the absence of revenue generated by Telemundo's broadcast of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia." Excluding the World Cup, ad revenue increased in the mid-single-digits range, "reflecting higher pricing, partially offset by audience ratings declines." Adjusted EBITDA in the broadcast unit rose 28 percent to $534 million, driven by lower programming and production costs.

The cable networks unit revenue increased 2.5 percent to $2.9 billion in the second quarter thanks to higher distribution and content licensing fees and other revenue. Distribution revenue rose more than 3 percent due to contractual rate increases and the timing of contract renewals, partially offset by a decline in pay TV subscribers of around 1.5 percent-2.0 percent. Advertising revenue was unchanged from the prior-year period, "reflecting higher rates, offset by audience ratings declines." Adjusted EBITDA in the cable networks unit increased slightly more than 2 percent to $1.2 billion as the higher revenue was partially offset by higher programming and production costs.

Roberts on Thursday's call was also asked about Comcast's appetite for acquisitions. "We’re pretty focused on what we have in front of us," he said, emphasizing that debt reduction is the priority. In that context, management also said it was looking for ways to monetize the floor price set in its deal to sell its stake in Hulu to Walt Disney over time, which would allow it to pay down debt further.

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NBC Universal’s upcoming streaming service has a name, and it does not feature “plus” or “max,” NBCU shunned the ongoing trend to go with Peacock (www.peacocktv.com), a nod to NBC’s iconic logo. The company also unveiled its initial programming slate, which includes three reboots of popular NBCU series, a new Battlestar Galactica from Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail, as well as contemporary takes on Saved By the Bell, from Great News creator Tracey Wigfield, with original cast members Mario Lopez and Elizabeth Berkley set to star and producer; and Punky Brewster, with Soleil Moon Frye set to reprise her role.

Peacock’s original programming slate also includes Ed Helms-Mike Schur comedy Rutherford Falls; a weekly show starring Late Night standout Amber Ruffin; limited series Dr. Death, starring Jamie Dornan, Alec Baldwin, Christian Slater, and Angelyne, starring/exec produced Emily Rossum and exec produced by her husband, Esmail; a behind-the-scenes at Saturday Night Live docuseries Who Wrote That; the Spanish-language dramedy series Armas De Mujler, from the team behind Telemundo’s hit La Reina del Sur; and drama pilot Straight Talk starring Jada Pinkett Smith and directed by Rashida Jones.

Peacock has given a series order to Rutherford Falls, co-created by The Office alums Helms Schur and starring Helms, which had been in the works at Apple.

NBCU also confirmed that the big-budget utopian drama series Brave New World, originally ordered by USA, will be on Peacock, along with the second Psych movie, Psych 2: Lassie Come Home, which also will move from USA to Peacock.

On the acquisition front, Peacock has handed exclusive streaming rights to Parks and Recreation, which will come to the streamer in October 2020, followed by The Office in January 2021. The platform revealed a string of other acquired series from the NBCU vault and outside studios, which it will carry on a non-exclusive basis.The service will also feature films from Universal Pictures, like the Fast & Furious franchise and E.T, Focus Features, DreamWorks Animation, Illumination.

You can see a full list of Peacock’s original and acquired programming to date below the post.

Peacock, which employs both AVOD and SVOD model, will launch in April 2020 with over 15,000 hours of content. That will be primarily acquired series and movies as well as topical content across news, including entertainment news via E!, sports, late-night and reality supplied by the various divisions of NBCU.

The company’s multi-platform Olympics coverage has not been unveiled yet but Peacock is expected to have some Olympic content, said Bonnie Hammer, Chairman of Direct-to-Consumer and Digital Enterprises. “And then we build and promote off the Olympics to market and launch some of our originals in the fall.”

Peacock’s original scripted series will begin rolling out in fall 2020, on the heels of the Summer Olympics, when the streamer also will start seeing NBCU titles currently on Hulu migrating to it, including Parks & Recreation.

NBCU-owned DreamWorks Animation, which has been producing original series primarily for Netflix, is not exclusive to the SVOD rival and will also be making series and movies for Peacock, along with original films from Universal and Focus.

On the unscripted side, Peacock’s first announced series are extensions of established NBCU franchises, like SNL or The Real Housewives.

“In the early stages we will be doing spinoffs but we also are In the middle of development of fresh originals directly connected to the stuff that we have on the air already,” Hammer said, stressing the advantages of doing spinoffs for cross-marketing new Peacock shows to the built-in audience watching the linear shows on TV.

As for the name of the service, “we looked at thousands of possibilities,” Hammer said. “The name Peacock pays homage to the quality content that audiences have come to expect from NBCUniversal – whether it’s culture-defining dramas from innovative creators like Sam Esmail, laugh-out-loud comedies from legends like Lorne Michaels and Mike Schur, blockbusters from Universal Pictures, or buzzy unscripted programming from the people who do it best at Bravo and E!.”

Original Drama Series

ANGELYNE (limited series)
Logline: Limited series based on The Hollywood Reporter feature that explored the identity of L.A.’s mysterious billboard bombshell.
EP: Emmy Rossum via Composition 8
EP: Sam Esmail via EsmailCorp
EP: Chad Hamilton via Anonymous Content
EP: Lucy Tcherniak
EP: Allison Miller
T: Emmy Rossum
Consultant: Gary Baum
Studio: UCP

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA
Logline: Battlestar Galactica returns to television with Sam Esmail producing.
EP: Sam Esmail
EP: Chad Hamilton
Studio: UCP

BRAVE NEW WORLD
Logline: Based on Aldous Huxley’s groundbreaking 1932 novel, Brave New Worldimagines a utopian society that has achieved peace and stability through the prohibition of monogamy, privacy, money, family, and history itself.
W: David Wiener
EP/Showrunner: David Wiener
EP: Grant Morrison
EP: Darryl Frank via Amblin Television
EP: Justin Falvey via Amblin Television
EP/Director: Owen Harris
EP (first episode): Brian Taylor
Studio: UCP
Cast: Alden Ehrenreich, Jessica Brown Findlay, Harry Lloyd, Kylie Bunbury, Hannah John-Kamen, Sen Mitsuji, Joseph Morgan, Nina Sosanya and Demi Moore

DR. DEATH
Logline: Based on Wonderly’s hit podcast, Dr. Death tells the terrifying true story of Dr. Christopher Duntsch (Jamie Dornan), a rising star in the Dallas medical community. Young, charismatic and ostensibly brilliant, Dr. Duntsch was building a flourishing neurosurgery practice when everything suddenly changed. Patients entered his operating room for complex but routine spinal surgeries and left permanently maimed or dead. As victims piled up, two fellow physicians, neurosurgeon Robert Henderson (Alec Baldwin) and vascular surgeon Randall Kirby (Christian Slater), set out to stop him. Dr. Death explores the twisted mind of a sociopath and the gross negligence of the system designed to protect the most defenseless among us.
W/EP: Patrick Macmanus
T: Jamie Dornan, Alec Baldwin, Christian Slater
EP: Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal, and Steve Tisch (Escape Artists)
EP: Hernan Lopez, Marshall Lewy (Wondery)
Studio: UCP

ONE OF US IS LYING (pilot)
Logline: Based on Karen M. McManus’s best-selling novel, One of Us Is Lying is the story of what happens when five strangers walk into
detention and only four walk out alive. Everyone is a suspect, and everyone has something to hide.
W: Erica Saleh
A: Karen M. McManus (based on her novel)
P: 5 More Minutes Productions (John Sacchi and Matt Groesch)
Studio: UCP

Original Comedy Series

A.P. BIO (Season 4)
Logline: When disgraced Harvard philosophy professor Jack Griffin loses out on his dream job, he is forced to return to Toledo, Ohio, and work as a high school Advanced Placement biology teacher. As he comes crashing in to Whitlock High School, Jack makes it absolutely clear he will not be teaching any biology. Realizing he has a room full of honor roll students at his disposal, Jack decides instead to use the kids for his own benefit. Eager to prove that he is still king of the castle, Principal Durbin struggles to control the force of nature that is Jack Griffin.
W/EP: Mike O’Brien
T: Glenn Howerton, Patton Oswalt, Lyric Lewis, Mary Sohn, Jean Villepique and Paula Pell
EP: Seth Meyers, Mike Shoemaker, Andrew Singer, Lorne Michaels
Studios: Universal Television, Broadway Video
Production Company: Sethmaker Shoemeyers Productions

PUNKY BREWSTER (pilot)
Logline: In this multicamera/hybrid continuation of the iconic 80s sitcom about a bright young girl raised by a foster dad, Punky is now a single mother of three trying to get her life back on track when she meets a young girl who reminds her a lot of her younger self.
Pilot credits:
W/EP: Steve and Jim Amogida
EP/T: Soleil Moon Frye
EP: Tim Pastore and Jimmy Fox (All3Media America/Main Event Media)
EP: David Duclon
D/EP: Jonathan Judge
Studio: UCP/Universal Television

RUTHERFORD FALLS
Logline: Ed Helms portrays Nathan Rutherford, the eponymous denizen of a small New England town, who is having difficulty facing the inevitable changes to his way of life.
EP/W/Co-creator/T: Ed Helms
EP/W/Co-creator: Michael Schur
EP/W/Co-creator: Sierra Ornelas
EP/NW: David Miner, Mike Falbo
Studio: Universal Television
Production companies: Fremulon, 3 Arts Entertainment, Pacific Electric Picture Company

SAVED BY THE BELL (reboot)
Logline: When California governor Zack Morris gets into hot water for closing too many low-income high schools, he proposes they send the affected students to the highest performing schools in the state – including Bayside High. The influx of new students gives the over privileged Bayside kids a much needed and hilarious dose of reality.
EP/W: Tracey Wigfield
P/T: Mario Lopez
P/T: Elizabeth Berkley
EP: Peter Engel, Franco Bario
Studio: Universal Television

STRAIGHT TALK
Logline: Straight Talk examines what happens when two opposing ideologies are forced into an odd coupling. The main characters will be challenged by one another, making the moral lines at which they once stood harder to define.
Pilot credits:
W/Creator: Kara Brown
D/EP/NW: Rashida Jones
T/EP: Jada Pinkett Smith
EP: Joy Gorman (Anonymous Content)
EP: Deniese Davis (Color Creative)
Studio: Universal Television & Anonymous Content

Original Unscipted Series

THE AMBER RUFFIN SHOW
Logline: Each week The Amber Ruffin Show will showcase Amber’s signature smart-and-silly take on the week. A late-night show with just the good parts – the comedy.
T: Amber Ruffin
EP: Seth Meyers, Mike Shoemaker
W: Jenny Hagel

WHO WROTE THAT
Logline: A docuseries that gives a behind the scenes look at Saturday Night Live‘s most important writers.
W/EP: Andy Breckman & Susan Morrison
D: Brett Hodge
EP: Lorne Michaels, Andrew Singer, Erin Doyle, Erik Howard (Broadway Video)
EP: Howard Klein (3 Arts)
EP: Derik Murray, Brian Gersh (Network Entertainment)
Associate Producer: Eddie Michaels (Broadway Video)

UNTITLED REAL HOUSEWIVES SPINOFF (no details provided)

Original Telefilm

PSYCH 2: LASSIE COME HOME
Logline: Santa Barbara Police Chief Carlton Lassiter is ambushed on the job and left for dead. In a vintage Psych-style Hitchcockian nod, he begins to see impossible happenings around his recovery clinic. Shawn and Gus return to Lassie’s side in Santa Barbara and are forced to navigate the personal, the professional, and possibly the supernatural. Separated from their new lives in San Francisco, our heroes find themselves unwelcome in their old stomping grounds as they secretly untangle a twisted case without the benefit of the police, their loved ones, or the quality sourdough bakeries of the Bay Area. What they uncover will change the course of their relationships forever.
W/D/EP: Steve Franks
W/EP: James Roday
W: Andy Berman
EP: Chris Henzie
EP: Dulé Hill
Studio: UCP in association with Thruline Entertainment
Cast: James Roday, Dulé Hill, Maggie Lawson, Kirsten Nelson, Corbin Bernsen and Tim Omundson

Catalog Series

Bates Motel
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Cheers
Chrisley Knows Best
Covert Affairs
Downton Abbey
Everybody Loves Raymond
Frasier
Friday Night Lights
House
Keeping Up with the Kardashians
The King of Queens
Married … with Children
Monk
Parks and Recreation (exclusive, available Oct. 2020)
Parenthood
The Office (exclusive, available Jan. 2021)
Psych
The Real Housewives
Royal Pains
Saturday Night Live
Superstore
30 Rock
Top Chef
Will & Grace
100 Dias Para Volver (Spanish-language)
Betty in NY (Spanish-language)
El Barón (Spanish-language)
Preso No. 1 (Spanish-language)

Original Movies to Be Created By

Universal Pictures
Focus Features
DreamWorks Animation

Library Movies

American Pie
Back to the Future
A Beautiful Mind
Bourne franchise
The Breakfast Club
Bridesmaids
Brokeback Mountain
Casino
Dallas Buyers Club
Despicable Me franchise
Do the Right Thing
Erin Brockovich
E.T. The Extra Terrestrial
Fast & Furious
Field of Dreams
Jaws
Knocked Up
Mamma Mia!
Meet the Fockers
Meet the Parents
Shrek

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