Stung by NBC’s plan to “pre-air” the Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers latenight shows on its upcoming Peacock streaming service hours prior to their regular broadcast, the NBC affiliates board has been talking to NBCU brass about modifying or scuttling the plan and appears be making some progress.
Ever since they heard about it a week or prior to the official Jan. 16 announcement in New York, the affiliates have been squawking about losing the first-runs of the shows. After speaking to some of the affiliates, TVNewsCheck columnist Hank Price blasted the plan: “This is an outrageous breach of trust.”
Reached by phone late last Friday (Jan. 31), Gray Television Co-CEO and NBC Affiliate Board Chairman Pat LaPlatney declined to discuss the matter, but released a statement suggesting that some kind of settlement was in the works.
“The NBC Affiliate Board has had productive dialogue regarding Peacock and are working toward a plan that is good for NBCU and provides affiliates the opportunity to meaningfully participate in this business,” it says.
“The NBC affiliate body has had a very positive 70-year relationship with the network, and are in continual dialogue with the NBC on this matter and other elements of the network-affiliate partnership.”
Starting on April 15, NBC will offer Peacock to consumers with broadband connections in a variety of ways. Peacock Free will be ad-supported and contain past and current NBC series (the current ones after they are broadcast), movies and sports, including the 2020 Olympics.
Peacock Premium will also have ads, but twice the content, including originals and additional sports. Subscribers to participating cable operators like Comcast and Cox will get it for free, but can upgrade to an ad-free version for $5 a month.
Non-cable subscribers will be able to stream the service for $5 a month with ads, $10 without.
Unless the affiliates can persuade NBCU to change course, starting in July, Peacock Premium will stream The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 8 p.m. ET followed by Late Night with Seth Meyers at 9.
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Comments (1)
A2Ztv says:
February 3, 2020 at 9:06 am
If NBC insists on showing the Tonight Show on Peacock BEFORE it airs on NBC affiliates, the affiliates should all band together and push the Tonight Show back 30-60 minutes in their markets to expand their local newscasts or open up the time period to syndication with more avails and potentially higher ratings.