NBCUniversal Strikes Deal to Bring Peacock Content and Live Sports to YouTube

(WS News) – NBCUniversal has struck a deal with YouTube that will bring select Peacock shows and live sports events directly onto the video platform, marking a shift in strategy for a media company that had spent the past several years steering viewers away from YouTube and toward its own streaming service.

Under the agreement, NBCUniversal will offer certain shows for free with ads on YouTube, while continuing to keep its full slate of movies, series, and live sports exclusive to Peacock. The deal also includes select live sporting events being made available on YouTube, expanding the platform’s push into live programming at a moment when YouTube has increasingly positioned itself as a serious competitor to traditional television, particularly among younger viewers who now spend more time watching YouTube on their TV screens than on phones or computers.

The partnership follows a broader pattern of media companies re-engaging with YouTube after years of trying to pull content behind their own paywalls. Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Paramount have all struck similar arrangements with the platform in recent years, licensing select shows and clips to YouTube even while maintaining exclusive next-day or full-season access on their own streaming services. NBCUniversal previously pulled back some of its content from YouTube as it built out Peacock, making this deal a notable reversal.

The move comes as traditional media companies grapple with how to balance subscriber growth on owned platforms against the reach and ad revenue potential of YouTube, which has more than 2.5 billion monthly logged-in users worldwide. Terms of the financial arrangement between NBCUniversal and YouTube were not disclosed.