admin On Thursday, NBCUniversal said, the company plans to launch an international news service, pulling on resources from both NBC News and Sky News.
The company said during its investor presentation to unveil Peacock, the company’s new streaming platform, that the service, which management had previously shared was in the planning stages, would stream on Peacock. The network is expected to be available via other means, including linear broadcast.
No launch date has been given to the Sky venture, which would be its own channel, but it was promoted among a slate of NBC News offerings for the Peacock service. That includes the recently launched streaming network NBC News NOW, and plans for an original offering every weekday from Meet the Press with Chuck Todd. NBC Ness also will create original documentaries for Peacock focused on politics, biographies and history, and the platform will include full episodes of Dateline.
Comcast CEO Brian Roberts first announced the plans for a global NBC News Sky network last year on an earnings call, drawing on the company’s purchase of the European pay TV giant Sky. The network would draw on the vast resources of the NBC and Sky news divisions.
Comcast acquired Sky in 2018 as part of a $39 billion deal. At an NBC News town hall event last summer, NBC News Andrew Lack and Deborah Turness talked about plans for the network and showed off a sizzle reel, according to the New York Post.
Peacock will launch on July 15, but Comcast Xfinity customers will get access starting on April 15.
With its global focus, the new NBC News/Sky News service is trying to carve out a different niche than its domestic competitors.
Peacock will also include programming from NBC News, MSNBC and Telemundo, including an expansion of the Meet the Press franchise.
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