Peacock subscribers will see ads immediately upon opening the streaming app or website next year. It’s a bold new strategy for attracting advertisers—something that’s been increasingly important to subscription-based streaming services—but it also risks alienating viewers
As reported by Variety, the new type of ads will display on the profile selection page that shows when a subscriber launches Peacock. Starting next year, instead of the profile page just showing your different Peacock profiles, most of the page will be dominated by an advertorial image. The circles of NBCUniversal-owned characters selected for user profiles will be relegated to a vertical column on the screen’s left side, as you can see here.
To avoid seeing what NBCUniversal is calling “Arrival Ads” every time you open Peacock, you need to subscribe to Peacock’s most expensive plan, which is ad-free and starts at $17 per month (Peacock’s ad-based plans start at $8/month.)

It’s interesting to see how streaming platforms are evolving with ad placements. This could definitely change the user experience, and it will be intriguing to see how subscribers adapt to it. Thanks for sharing this update!
It’s definitely a shift in how we experience streaming content. It will be interesting to see if this approach influences viewer engagement or subscription choices in the long run. Advertisers might also need to adapt their strategies to fit this new format.
You’re right; it really does change the dynamic of how we engage with streaming platforms. It could lead to more innovative ad formats that blend with the content, but I hope it doesn’t detract from the viewing experience. It’ll be fascinating to see how subscribers respond to this change!