NBCSN Premier League and Peacock

[matthewb0051]

I really got into watching Premier League around 2014. Back then it was on NBCSN and usually they would broadcast multiple games in same time slot by using CNBC and other owned platforms. Then a few times during the year, like the last weekend of season, they would use upwards of 9 networks to show games during same timeslots.

Then a few years ago they went to putting the matches not shown on NBCSN on their App, NBCSN and Gold. Gold was a pay service. This set up wasn't too bad but you could see the way ahead changing to viewing being on a paid App.

Like any good crack dealer, they got me hooked when it was free and plentiful. Now they are using Peacock, yet another app that requires a subscription. But this time they aren't just putting a few matches on this service, they are putting marquee matches on it. Yesterday for example they put the North London Derby on as well as ALL matches broadcast. I believe it was something like 10 hours of broadcasting on Peacock and NOTHING on NBCSN. For those of us just paying for cable we were left with women's matches from England.

I believe Peacock is around $5 per month which ain't bad but its the nickel and diming here and there that adds up and with a cable/internet bill around $200 I'm having a hard time justifying.
Then there is the part where I don't think I can get Peacock. All I have is an Amazon Firestick. Unless one of you tell me otherwise, I don't believe Peacock and Firestick are interconnected.

Assuming I can get Peacock on Firestick, does anyone have experiences with it? Good, bad, indifferent?

I'd also be interested if anyone else feels cheated by NBCSN. Maybe cheated isn't the right word but it seems close.

[nota]

don't care about kick ball

but the AMERICA'S CUP is $175 on NBC gold here in the USA when most of the world gets it on free tv as we did last time

o-well there are ways around that

[UconnTim97]

Peacock is free if you have Xfinity or Cox for your cable service.

I'm happy with the games available so far. I watch a lot of the replays.

It does get annoying to have to check which app is showing the matches I want to see though.

There are also some good shows on there. I'm currently binge watching Mr Mercedes when I get the chance.

I understand there is a work around to get Peacock on your Firestick.

YNWA

[kevin993]

Timely post. Over the past few years, we'd gotten to enjoy more of the EPL and Bundesliga. We often recorded a bunch of the weekend games and then worked through a few during the week. We started to know more of the teams and players. We didn't re-arrange our schedule to watch them, but we'd have a match on if we were home. If we were busy that weekend or week, we just missed that weekend or week. No big deal.

Bundesliga has gone behind the paywall at ESPN. NBC shows more EPL games but they've cut back significantly compared to last year. You can't really follow one team week-to-week, so you take whatever games they choose to show.

We're casual enough spectators that we'll pay attention if it is there but won't go out of our way to pay extra. If it isn't available, we'll find plenty of other things to do with our time and attention. Maybe it is worth it for the hard-core fans but our life is fluid enough that it doesn't make sense to pay extra when we may or may not be watching for a week or two or three at a time. If you don't care about watching live, you can typically catch up later with replays or highlight shows online to scratch the itch.

I'm also not interested in paying for the privilege of being shown teaser games and constant advertisements to pay more for the "good" games or the teams I want to see. (Yes, I understand the move to streaming, economics, etc. but it is annoying to hear "peacock" pushed repeatedly along with descriptions of all of the good games that I'm not seeing.)

There may not be right or wrong, but there are consequences. There is a big world out there with almost unlimited supply of interesting people, places and experiences. It gets more and more difficult to command pricing power. We like a lot of things, but not at any cost.

[matthewb0051]

Originally Posted by kevin993

There may not be right or wrong, but there are consequences. There is a big world out there with almost unlimited supply of interesting people, places and experiences. It gets more and more difficult to command pricing power. We like a lot of things, but not at any cost.

Yeah, the timing is a little wonky. I don't think the PL has reached its peak following in the US but it was really enjoying a huge increase. Add Covid into that mix and this move by NBCSN seems to be poorly thought out. Viewership could just as easily fall back into obscurity.

I didn't know about the Bundesliga --- ESPN paywall thing. That is too bad. And IMHO once ESPN gets ahold of Euro sports they tend to F them up like they did with F1.

[TimBer]

They got me. I had downloaded the Peacock app a few months ago, but just upgraded to Peacock Premium on Saturday to watch the North London Derby. It was worth it!!!

[matthewb0051]

Just to follow-up. Today, NBCSN carried college basketball, Evansville v Saint Louis, instead of the afternoon match. The network showed the Manchester Derby late morning on NBC. All other (4) matches were on Peacock.

I need to figure out the work around for Firestick.

[stevej37]

Peacock is free here...for Xfinity users.
Every time I check it...I can't find anything worthwhile to watch.