NBCUniversal’s Peacock is beta testing a new membership rewards program for subscribers, as the streamer seeks to add value for customers that goes beyond content on its SVOD and to boost loyalty, engagement and fandom for its service, franchises and brands. Beyond Peacock, the membership program incorporates a mix of partner perks as well as plans for the broader NBCU portfolio with experiential live events, consumer products, theme parks and more.
Announced Monday, the beta membership program is rolling out to a limited number of Peacock Premium and Peacock Plus subscribers (a cohort which the company says was randomly selected).
Per NBCU, the program is meant to reflect NBCU’s ability to connect fans with franchises they love across multiple touchpoints and types of engagement, from streaming to experiential events, among others. And the company said it’s designed to serve what Peacock customers say they value most, i.e.: “meaningful recognition, exclusive access, flexibility, and experiences that extend beyond traditional discounts.”
The beta test is meant to serve as a test and learn period so that NBCU can understand the types of rewards that resonate most with subscribers before the program is rolled out more broadly.
Rewards during the beta test phase will focus on the four following areas:
NBCUniversal rewards: Exclusive offers tied to Peacock programming and NBCU brands
- For example, at launch members in the beta will receive a 25% discount on NBCU Shop (for Shop at NBC Studios products) and a Bravo Shop discount
Partner rewards: Benefits from select partners that enhance the subscriber experience.
- At launch, partner rewards include a complimentary Instacart+ membership for one year (auto renews as a paid membership after 1 year)
Engagement rewards: Recognition tied to activity on Peacock.
- At launch, subscribers in the beta test wll receive a Pizza Hut digital code with the offer to buy one menu-priced medium pizza and get a second of equal or lesser value for free. This reward represents a limited time offer and is unlocked after a subscriber streams three movies.
Experiential rewards: Unique opportunities that bring fans closer to NBCUniversal experiences.
- While nothing specific was yet disclosed for experiential rewards tied to the beta launch, the announcement did note additional rewards are expected to be added over time, including Universal Parks perks and experiences, NBCUniversal content previews, and early access to NBCUniversal live events.
And with churn a known issue in the streaming industry, Peacock also looks to be trying to encourage loyalty via rewards. Members of the rewards program are grouped into three tiers based on how long they’ve been subscribed Peacock – with rewards tailored to each tier and benefits the longer the tenure. The groupings include Gold (subscribed 3 months-1 year), Platinum (1-3 years) and Diamond (3+ years).
For example, one of the NBCU rewards available at launch includes a discount on Bravo Shop products, which is dependent on the membership tier with Gold members eligible for 15% off, Platinum 20% off and Diamond members receiving 25% off.
The rewards program comes as the streaming industry at large is expected to see subscriber growth slow in coming years and increased attention has been put on loyalty, engagement and increasing habitual use and time spent - factors which stand to impact advertising and related revenue as ad tiers become more key to streaming growth.
Deepening connections and fandoms for franchises has also been a focus for Peacock, among other streamers, including with fandom-focused SVOD product updates such as short-form Bravo content and recent mobile feature additions that give fans more ways to interact with personalities and storylines.
While early among major SVODs, Peacock isn’t the first streamer to test out a loyalty or rewards program.
It's distinct from Peacock's new effort but Spanish-language AVOD player Canela Media debuted its own innovative in-app loyalty and rewards program last year called Club Canela – which initially is engagement-focused and rewards viewers for watching content and participating in in-app activities like games and quizzes.
Launched in April 2025, the loyalty program gives registered users of the Canela.TV AVOD platform a chance to earn points and badges that translate to rewards (like access to exclusive content, sweepstakes and digital gift cards) simply by watching content on the platform and by interacting with gamified experiences. It also provides an opportunity for brands to get in on the action and engage with consumers through customized branded challenges and rewards.
The effort has seen early success, with Canela Global President Philippe Guelton telling StreamTV Insider last December that the free program had grown to around 100,000 users.
As a free streamer, one of Canela’s aims with the rewards program was to encourage users to register a profile, but also to boost engagement and time spent watching on the platform – which in turn helps advertising revenue and impacts average revenue per user (ARPU) for Canela.
Within six months Club Canela drove more than 417% growth in new registered profiles and over 24 million incremental viewing minutes for the AVOD's content. Brand partners have included Hyundai, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s and Verizon.
“We see a huge uptick in engagement and time spent from these users,” said Guelton in December regarding the 100,000 Club Canela “super fans,” citing anywhere from 100-400% increase in time spent for those users.
“And that translates directly into ARPU [average revenue per user]” for those particular viewers, he noted.
Peacock’s own loyalty and rewards program is just getting starting, but it will be interesting to see the response for consumers – particularly as many are paying closer attention to price as they weigh the value of streaming and TV services, and where NBCU’s new program might have potential to push the value scale in its favor if it can deliver on the right perks and experiences that resonate with consumers.