Peacock had its national rollout Wednesday, capping an extraordinary nine-month window that saw four major platforms (and Quibi) jump on to the streaming battlefield. Sure, CBS All Access is getting a major refresh later this summer, and a total rebrand by early 2020. But for now, consumers wary of all the new choices will (hopefully) be getting a rest from having to figure out whether they need the newest service. This week’s Buffering once again focuses on Peacock: We dive into its attempt to make linear TV sexy again, as well as why so many potential users actually have no way of watching it on their TV sets. I also offer my early take on the experience of actually using the app. As always, thank you for reading. –Joe Adalian

Reach Joe on Twitter @tvmojoe or email buffering@vulture.com.

NBCUniversal has spent millions hyping the launch of Peacock. As I wrote here last week, the ads are really good and very effective at selling the service. Unfortunately, many of the consumers inspired by those promos to check out Peacock are just now finding out that you can’t do that on television — if you do your streaming with a Roku or Amazon Fire TV device. Much the same way HBO Max was unable to come to an agreement to get its service on those platforms, Peacock has so far been similarly plucked over by the device-makers’ demands.

While the situation with Peacock isn’t identical to what’s going on with HBO Max (and HBOriginal Recipe, which won’t be streamable at all on Roku as of next month), the basic issue boils down to two things: money (shocker!) and data. Like Apple, Roku long ago decided it didn’t want to just make money selling hardware. It now makes much of its cash selling advertising, either by giving over space on its homepage to streamers looking to sell their apps and shows, or more recently, through its own Roku Channel, which competes with services like Peacock by aggregating library content from studios and networks and offering them for free to users. Peacock may have Parks and Recreation, but the legendar-(ily mediocre) Brooke Shields sitcom Suddenly Susan calls the Roku Channel home. (And if you don’t think I’ve been watching episodes of it on Roku, then you clearly haven’t been paying attention to my Twitter feed.)

Amazon and its Fire TV platform are also in the ad business, mostly through the IMDb TV free streaming service (which is very similar to the Roku Channel). And both companies have been going further than simply selling ads: They also want to control how audiences get their streaming programming. That may sound very consumer-friendly, except that it means streamers cede control of how users experience and discover content from their platforms and, more importantly, it means losing access to precious subscriber data, such as how subscribers binge a show.

The battle: Amazon isn’t commenting about talks with the new streamers. But Roku isn’t hiding its desire to get paid for putting Peacock on its devices, blaming owner Comcast for the standoff. “It’s disappointing that Comcast has refused reasonable and standard industry terms and decided not to launch Peacock on Roku at a time when streaming is surging,” a rep for the company said via email. “We want to bring Peacock to our large customer base of avid streamers … Unfortunately, Comcast is trying to launch a primarily ad-supported business while refusing to share in the ad model with platform partners.”

How will it all shake out? Industry insiders familiar with the situation say NBCU actually isn’t refusing to compensate Roku (or Amazon) for being on those platforms. Its objections have been focused on not wanting to give up control of its advertising inventory and user experience. Earlier this week, a rep for Peacock said negotiations were continuing. And late last month, Strauss told me he was “hopeful” about being able to “get everybody on board” at some point. “I’m not going to get into details of ongoing negotiations,” he said. “But we think we offer all the distribution partners a really interesting product. We’ve got a different idea than others have. And we think that this should be very interesting to them.” In the meantime, Peacock social-media managers have taken to using the hashtag #FreeTheBird when explaining to customers why the app isn’t on some platforms.

The Peacock Difference: Live Channels

Other than its pricing structure — you can watch for free! — NBCUniversal’s Peacock doesn’t radically depart from the template established by Netflix more than a decade ago. It’s mostly the same mix of new and old TV shows, movies, and unscripted programming, all available on demand and served up via endless rows of colorful tiles which have been algorithmically arranged to get viewers to stop and click. And yet, for all that’s familiar, Peacock does try to do at least one thing differently: It gives users who want it the option to watch like it’s 2009. 

Click on the “channels” tab in the Peacock app and you’ll suddenly find yourself transported to a user interface that resembles the electronic program guides common on cable and satellite systems, as well as virtual cable providers such as YouTube TV or Philo. When I signed on to the channels section of the Peacock mobile app on Thursday morning, I instantly found myself watching the live feed of a U.K. football match (Manchester City vs. Bournemouth, if that means anything to you). Scrolling down took me from a Jason Sudekis movie parody on a channel devoted to SNL clips to a random episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians to the Bob Ross Channel (which, yes, is just old installments of The Joy of Painting). It can take me 10-15 minutes to settle on something I want to watch on Netflix; within 90 seconds of scrolling on Peacock, I had decided to keep the SNL Vault channel on for a bit while I read through some emails.

This one user’s completely random interaction with Peacock may not end up being representative of how most consumers discover content on the service (or even how I end up using it.) But giving folks the choice to do so is very much part of the platform’s design. “We made the conscious decision to build a product meant to tap into the multiple ways people watch television,” Peacock boss Mark Strauss told me late last month. Given Peacock’s connection to linear TV giant NBCUniversal, home to NBC, Telemundo, and multiple cable networks, execs at the service wanted to recreate the “lean-back” experience that dominated the first 60 years of TV. They’re betting audiences are tired of having to find something to watch and sometimes would prefer to have their content curated for them.

This is why Peacock also has a “trending” section packed with news, sports, and pop-culture clips (plus promos for Peacock originals). Combined, having the channels and trending tabs “opens up the door to increasing frequency and getting people to come to us more often,” Strauss explains. “You’re not just there to watch a movie or catch up on a TV show. You’re also there because you might just want to get something that’s of shorter form.” Of course, this was also Jeffrey Katzenberg’s intent with Quibi, but Peacock has made its version of short-attention-span theater one of several ways to use the platform rather than the core of the service.

Peacock didn’t invent live channels: The service may be the biggest streamer to try to tackle the choice-fatigue problem, but it is hardly the first. Pluto, Tubi, and Xumo have been offering virtual channels for some time now, prompting them to get gobbled up by big media conglomerates (ViacomCBS, Fox, and Peacock owner Comcast, respectively). Two other free streamers — the Roku Channel and Sinclair-owned STIRR — have also started offering live channels within the past few months. And while it’s still early days for Peacock channels — there are plans to nearly double the number of them in coming months — so far the new platform’s attempt to play in the space is pretty meh compared to those offered by the other guys.

Still, I think Strauss and his team are very much on the right path here. Netflix is undeniably the best streaming platform in the U.S. on multiple fronts: biggest collection of original content, most must-watch TV shows, best (and easiest to use) device, how long it takes to load and switch between titles. It does what it does better than anyone else — I will fight you if you disagree — and that’s caused many of its rivals to try to duplicate its success rather than do things Netflix doesn’t do well (or do at all). I think the way for new streamers to succeed is to find ways to stand out, whether by having a very specific focus (Disney+ and family entertainment) or bundling a cable package in with your VOD service (Hulu with Live TV). Peacock has two big points of differentiation: The basic version is free, and you can choose a more linear experience if you want.

It’s too soon to say whether channels will actually drive substantially more usage or engagement for Peacock, or whether it ends up being a novelty. But Strauss says data from Peacock’s preview launch this spring (when it was available only to Xfinity customers) gives him reason to be optimistic. Cord-cutting consumers who accessed the platform via Xfinity’s internet-only Flex service used the channels feature ten times more often than those who had a traditional cable package. “What that signals to me is that linear TV is not dead,” he says. “We’re finding that people like the serendipity of being able to come in and out of channels or just have it playing on in the background.  That is something that has been missing from some other streaming services that we’ve embraced as part of ours.”

So, Is Peacock Must-Stream TV?

I was able to play around with the Peacock app a few days before its official launch, and so far, I’ve found it to be … solid. The user interface is right down the middle when compared to other major platforms: It doesn’t dazzle like Netflix but it also doesn’t make you want to throw your remote across the living room (hello, Amazon Prime Video). Downloading it to my phone and Apple TV was simple, and the sign-up painless.

The movie selection: As for the content, the big (pleasant) surprise was how robust the movie offering is, especially for folks like me who appreciate random underappreciated movies from the ’70s and ’80s. The 1981 Alan Alda/Carol Burnett rom-com The Four Seasons? It’s on Peacock. 1974’s newspaper classic The Front Page? It’s there, too. There is also a very nice assortment of major franchises from the Universal vaults, including lots of Hitchcock films; the Jurassic Park, Bourne, and Matrix franchises; and many Universal monster movies. Of course, there’s also much more junk than you’ll find on, say, HBO Max. The “Serious Cinema” section on Peacock includes WTF titles such as Autumn Stables, All Summer’s End, and a Burt Reynolds late-in-life dud called Hamlet & Hutch sitting next to The Phantom Thread. Maybe they meant to call it “You Cannot Be Serious Cinema”?

The television offerings: In terms of library TV shows, Peacock execs told me they wanted to find something for everyone, and I think they succeeded. Instead of just loading the service up with every bad Universal TV sitcom from the ’90s and beyond, Peacock plays to the studio’s historic strength with crime dramas: You can binge The Rockford Files, Columbo, and, of course, lots and lots of Dick Wolf shows (though, sadly, not every episode of Law & Order. One day!). Peacock also has shows from outside studios, and while it’s nice to see Everybody Loves Raymond sitting next to Frasier, the TV library isn’t particularly big overall or filled with titles that haven’t lived elsewhere for years. Why not spend the money and figure out a way to bring the NBC classic Homicide: Life on the Street to streaming as opposed to giving cash to ViacomCBS for Cheers? Yes, it is one of the ten biggest comedies ever produced for TV, but it can already be found on other services and it had a long run on Netflix.

Finally, I’ll admit to not having watched any of the handful of Peacock originals. To be honest, none so far seem all that appealing. The company’s development execs say they intentionally leaned on well-known IP with their early efforts, which is why there’s an adaptation of Brave New World and reboots of Saved by the Bell and Punky Brewster in the works. I watched both when I was younger, but I’m not sure the world needed to see them again. But from a business standpoint, I think there’s some logic to playing it safe as Peacock builds a base of active users, saving its Marvelous Mrs. Maisel or Handmaid’s Tale moment for when the platform is more established. Upcoming comedies from Tina Fey and Mike Schur will hopefully fill the quality niche.

More Peacock reading: I did a deeper dive into the service earlier this week, and you can read it here. Wondering how to get Peacock, and how much it will cost? Here’s your FAQ.

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It’s Netflix earnings day, and the big question ahead of its quarterly report card: How did the coronavirus pandemic impact things at the world’s largest streamer? In April, the company reported a record 15.8 million new worldwide subscribers and attributed much of that gain to new members signing up as global shutdowns went into place. Nobody expects Netflix will be able to match that growth again, particularly since most of those lockdowns have been eased or eliminated. (Execs said as much in April: “We expect viewing and growth to decline,” the company said in a letter to shareholders. Plus, the global economy is now in a severe recession.)

Of course, there’s also the argument that consumers not spending cash going to movies or restaurants might be even more likely to keep Netflix (and other streamers) around,  so another eye-poppingly good set of numbers wouldn’t be a shock. Netflix said last spring it expected to add 7.5 million new subscribers during the April through June quarter, though also admitted forecasting during a pandemic is pretty much just guessing. I’ve read estimates as high as 12.5 million new subscribers.

Netflix has also taken to using these quarterly earnings reports to reveal how many people have sampled its shows and movies. I’m most interested in seeing if Floor Is Lava — the silly but compelling game show the streamer added a few weeks ago — was a big hit, given how many days it topped Netflix’s list of most popular shows in the U.S. I’ll also be curious to see if the streamer offers any hint about how many customers binged Avatar: The Last Airbender, which returned to Netflix in May and was in the top ten for weeks. An update on the live-action show would be nice, too. Look for the Netflix data dump soon after the stock market closes Thursday, with a video interview featuring top Netflix execs released at 6 p.m. EDT.

One other thing I expect Netflix to brag about during its earnings interview today…

The performance of its original movies. With physical theaters mostly shuttered across the country, theatrical blockbusters have moved to streaming this year, whether through premium VOD (like Trolls World Tour and King of Staten Island) or subscription services. Earlier this week, Hulu told IndieWire that Palm Springs, which the streamer acquired at Sundance just before the pandemic hit, generated more views than any other Hulu original film ever during its first three days of release. (It did not attach specific numbers to the claim.) Netflix, meanwhile, shared data with Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw outlining the bigger picture for films on the platform — a list of what it says are the 10 most popular films on the service to date. While much of it was previously released information — Neflix said in May that Extraction was on track to be its biggest movie ever— there were several new nuggets, including the news that David Spade’s The Wrong Missy (which should really be called Lauren Lapkus’s Wrong Missy) was checked out by 59 million accounts during its first four weeks of release, just barely ahead of Oscar-nominated The Irishman. Check out the full top 10 list above.

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Of all the old NBC shows not on Peacock, the one I’m most bummed is missing: the Conan O’Brien version of Late Night. I’d love to see David Letterman’s old shows, too, but Conan-era Late Night is a touchstone for Gen X and millennials alike, and it’s a shame that complete episodes are only available via Conan’s own streaming platform. HBO Max would also be a logical home for Late Night, but if Conan, Andy, and Max were on Peacock, it would give the streamer a good excuse to use one of Conan’s best bits in promos: Polly the NBC Peacock. Polly is a shameless shill for all things NBC, and I’m sure he’d have plenty of good things to say about the new streamer. For now, we’ll have to make due with clips on YouTube, like this one from 2000.