NBCUniversal is ratcheting up efforts to drive attention to its Peacock streaming service — in this case, by ending its content deal with rival Hulu. Reports suggest that starting this September, new episodes of shows like Saturday Night Live and The Voice will stop appearing on Hulu the day after they originally air.
Aside from the shows specifically mentioned — this week’s reports call out SNL, The Voice, and American Auto in particular — there’s currently no confirmation of which shows will be affected by this latest move.
The maneuver did not come without warning. Last month, we covered reports that Comcast was considering pulling NBCUniversal content from Hulu to direct more attention to its own Peacock service. And the move follows earlier efforts to bring Universal films to the service 45 days after their theater premiere.
At last count, Peacock boasted around 9 million users on its Premium tier, plus another 7 million on its free, ad-supported option. And it’ll be interesting to see how this latest move could affect future subscriber counts.
In the meantime, we’ll keep an eye out for more exact timing and a more complete list of affected shows.