NBC News Plans Standalone Streaming Service

In a real head-scratcher of a move, NBC News is planning its own standalone streaming service. Axios was the first to report the plan.

What Will the NBC News Service Include?

It will offer NBC News’ current products, including podcasts, video shows, and web articles on one platform, ad-free.

The product will have 22 free ad-supported streaming channels you can already get elsewhere. That list includes NBC News Now, NBC Sports, Today All Day, Dateline 24/7, Sky News, Noticias Telemundo Ahora, and all of NBC News’ owned-and-operated affiliate streaming channels.

The service is set to have exclusive, subscriber-only video content and shows, including new vertical video briefings.

How Much Will It Cost?

NBCUniversal News Group chief digital officer Chris Berend says it will cost in the $4-7 range.

Here’s Why It’s Weird

I could see NBCUniversal launching this product a year ago. But the company is dumping two of its most important news assets to a brand new company called Versant.

Versant will get two cable news crown jewels: MS NOW (formerly MSNBC) and CNBC. Those crucial channels would not be available in this NBC News app.

We’ve already seen more than 2 million people sign up for the Fox News Channel streaming service, FOX One. Granted, that service also has a lot of content from FOX, including college football and the NFL. This NBC News app would have no such thing. But you can imagine that liberal news viewers would want a standalone MS NOW app, and Versant seems ill equipped to provide that.

Like someone said, “What if we have a news streaming service without Rachel Maddow and packed with stuff people can already get for free?

NBCUniversal previously dabbled with standalone streamers, thanks to the too-expensive CNBC+.

And why isn’t the company just including this content in Peacock, which recently got its own price hike?

Although FOX One seems to be doing well out of the gate, thanks to its rabid right-wing fanbase and the power of the FOX broadcast lineup, other news-only streamers have struggled, including the ill-fated CNN+, which lasted less than a month before it was shut down. CNN recently tried again with CNN All Access, which doesn’t even include the same 24-hour lineup as the CNN linear channel.

And finally, much of this content is already widely available on free platforms like Pluto TV and Plex.

Free News Streaming Options

While you wait to see the full offering of this as-yet-unnamed NBC News streamer, there are still plenty of ways to watch NBC content for free. And lots of free news streamers that are well worth exploring. Here are some of our favorites: