NBC’s Peacock to Stream ‘The Godfather’ in Deal With ViacomCBS

(Bloomberg) -- In the battle for streaming supremacy, media giants like Walt Disney Co. and AT&T Inc.’s WarnerMedia have been making their greatest hits exclusive to their own services to entice more subscribers.

ViacomCBS Inc., parent of Showtime and Paramount Pictures, is happy to share with others.

Comcast Corp.’s NBCUniversal said Wednesday it will license Showtime series including “Ray Donovan” and “The Affair” for its new Peacock streaming service, which launches nationwide July 15. Those shows will continue to be available on ViacomCBS properties. Old films from the Paramount library, such as “The Godfather” trilogy, will stream on Peacock for limited exclusive periods.

The deal adds more programming depth to Peacock at a time when the global pandemic has delayed the production of several of its original shows.

Peacock, which debuted to Comcast subscribers in April, is a free streaming service, though subscribers can also pay $5 a month for an ad-free version.

Peacock has thousands of hours of shows and movies from NBCUniversal’s properties, but it has also sought hits from other media companies.

ViacomCBS plans to launch a companywide streaming service soon but hasn’t provided a name or launch date.

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