Peacock has found a new place to stuff ads. Starting next year, the streaming service will greet you with an ad alongside your profile icon on the “Who’s watching?” screen when you open the app.
During a press briefing, Peacock parent company NBCUniversal showed off how these “arrival ads” might look. One image shows your profiles stacked vertically on the left side of the screen, while an ad for Capital One takes up almost the entire screen. Another swaps the Capital One ad for an image showing the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
NBCUniversal spokesperson Andrew Bilbao tells The Verge that Peacock’s Premium Plus users won’t see these ads, with the press release describing them as “a first-of-its-kind, bold presence on a user’s profile page that allow brands to own the first impression as soon as viewers enter the platform.”
In addition to ads on the profile selection screen, Peacock announced that it’s introducing ads to the vertical video feed of clips it shows on its mobile apps. It’s just one more place Peacock can stick ads, as the service already displays full-screen ads that appear when you pause what you’re watching. It also launched a “binge” ad that it displays after a viewer has watched two episodes of the same show in a row, relaying a sponsored message that says the next episode will be ad-free.