NBCUniversal Streaming Service Arrives in April 2020

NBCUniversal's streaming service will launch next April, NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke said this week.

The service will eventually be the exclusive home of the The Office, which is leaving Netflix in January 2021. On Thursday, Burke boasted about securing the rights to the series, which reportedly cost the network up $500 million.

"The Office was important to us because, according to Nielsen...The Office is the number one show on Netflix. It's about 5 percent of all of Netflix's volume," Burke said during an earnings call for Comcast, the company's parent. "And we see The Office as being one of the tentpole programs on our platform."

NBCUniversal will produce some original content for its streaming service. However, most of the TV shows and movies on the platform will come from its existing properties, which include Universal Pictures, NBC Entertainment, and DreamWorks Animation.

"We have a number of originals that are actually tied to libraries that we currently own. But I would expect the vast majority of the consumption in the beginning would be acquired," he added.

Burke declined to offer more details about the upcoming service, including price. He said only that it will be "very different than anything else in the market." NBCUniversal previously confirmed that its streaming service will come in two forms: an ad-free streaming service with a monthly subscription fee, and a free, ad-supported version for those who have Comcast Cable or Sky.

In addition to Netflix, NBCUniversal will be competing against rival products from Disney, Apple, and WarnerMedia, which are also entering the streaming wars.

About Our Expert

Michael Kan

Principal Reporter

My Experience

I've been a journalist for over 15 years. I got my start as a schools and cities reporter in Kansas City and joined PCMag in 2017, where I cover satellite internet services, cybersecurity, PC hardware, and more. I'm currently based in San Francisco, but previously spent over five years in China, covering the country's technology sector.

Since 2020, I've covered the launch and explosive growth of SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service, writing 600+ stories on availability and feature launches, but also the regulatory battles over the expansion of satellite constellations, fights with rival providers like AST SpaceMobile and Amazon, and the effort to expand into satellite-based mobile service. I've combed through FCC filings for the latest news and driven to remote corners of California to test Starlink's cellular service.

I also cover cyber threats, from ransomware gangs to the emergence of AI-based malware. In 2024 and 2025, the FTC forced Avast to pay consumers $16.5 million for secretly harvesting and selling their personal information to third-party clients, as revealed in my joint investigation with Motherboard.

I also cover the PC graphics card market. Pandemic-era shortages led me to camp out in front of a Best Buy to get an RTX 3000. I'm now following how the AI-driven memory shortage is impacting the entire consumer electronics market. I'm always eager to learn more, so please jump in the comments with feedback and send me tips.

The Best Tech I've Had:

My first video game console: a Nintendo Famicom
I loved my Sega Saturn despite PlayStation's popularity.
The iPod Video I received as a gift in college
Xbox 360 FTW
The Galaxy Nexus was the first smartphone I was proud to own.
The PC desktop I built in 2013, which still works to this day.

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