Peacock eliminates all its classic films

[BluBonnet]

So, in case there's a few folks here who may be into classic films, it looks like Peacock eliminated its classic movies section entirely on 1/1/21.

There were several dozen classic films, divided into the "classics" and "westerns" sections, all of which appear to be wiped out completely.

While Peacock usually puts a warning on movies and TV shows that are leaving the service ("X days left to watch"), no such warning appeared on any of the classic movies they eliminated. Since they were all Universal titles which the company owns in perpetuity, and have not been licensed to other streaming services, there seemed to be no logical reason to believe they would be leaving this site anytime in the foreseeable future.

And yes, I have checked both the mobile app and the Apple TV Peacock app, so this issue isn't limited to one platform or another.

I guess they figured enough people will sign on to watch The Office that they don't have to offer a more wide-ranging selection of older movies.

[Schlockmeister]

If you're a registered user, only one thing to do:

https://www.peacocktv.com/help/web-to-case

On "Select topic", choose:
"Would like to give feedback"

and give them a piece of your mind. All you're gonna receive, like I did, is an immediate boilerplate response thanking you and telling you their "production team" will take it into account.

Incidentally, this is also the first month that HBOMAX does not add one single Golden era classic movie, the oldest one being a 1964 Elvis vehicle, to their TCM hub. I've also give them a piece of my mind:

https://help.hbomax.com/Feedback

Unlike Peacock, they don't even bother to respond with boilerplate BS, but at least I get to vent to them.

[Schlockmeister]

That said, I seriously doubt this is a definitive thing, on both counts.

At the risk of incurring in wishful thinking, perhaps the fact that so many of the classic movies were available in godawful SD-ish PQ has to do with this "temporary(?)" decision. Maybe when/if they come back, they'll all be in pristine HD, as I repeteadly demanded on the aforementioned complaint form...

As for HBOMAX, the TCM hub will continue to add old classics. That's the whole point of it, and what happened this month will become an anomaly.

[BluBonnet]

I've also noticed HBOMax doesn't tell you when the older movies are leaving, only the more recent ones. Holiday Affair was available last month and now it's gone, despite the fact it was never listed under "leaving soon" like other movies were. Countdown(1968) is another title that left without warning....

[dommie]

All I can say is Thank God for TCM. If not for them, so many of the older films would never be able to be viewed unless you happened to own a DVD, provided the film was even available for purchase. Amazon Prime does a fairly good job in making most the better known classics available for rent but it's TCM that gives people a chance to see some of the lesser known classic films that would otherwise be completely forgotten.

I have noticed that some of the specialty ROKU channels do make some older films available but the audio and video quality on those channels is usually not very good.

[BluBonnet]

Originally Posted by dommie

All I can say is Thank God for TCM. If not for them, so many of the older films would never be able to be viewed unless you happened to own a DVD, provided the film was even available for purchase. Amazon Prime does a fairly good job in making most the better known classics available for rent but it's TCM that gives people a chance to see some of the lesser known classic films that would otherwise be completely forgotten.

I have noticed that some of the specialty ROKU channels do make some older films available but the audio and video quality on those channels is usually not very good.

I mean, they're only as good as the movies they're able to license or that the conglomerate already owns the rights to, right? And of all studios, Universal is probably one of the worst in terms of making their older, more obscure catalog titles available. That means both physical media and streaming or licensing to third parties.

[tjritter79]

Originally Posted by BluBonnet

So, in case there's a few folks here who may be into classic films, it looks like Peacock eliminated its classic movies section entirely on 1/1/21.

There were several dozen classic films, divided into the "classics" and "westerns" sections, all of which appear to be wiped out completely.

While Peacock usually puts a warning on movies and TV shows that are leaving the service ("X days left to watch"), no such warning appeared on any of the classic movies they eliminated. Since they were all Universal titles which the company owns in perpetuity, and have not been licensed to other streaming services, there seemed to be no logical reason to believe they would be leaving this site anytime in the foreseeable future.

And yes, I have checked both the mobile app and the Apple TV Peacock app, so this issue isn't limited to one platform or another.

I guess they figured enough people will sign on to watch The Office that they don't have to offer a more wide-ranging selection of older movies.

Peacock, like every other streaming service, cycles their content. No one ever stated that one movies got there, they were going to remain forever. I'm sure the classics will return at some point.

[Schlockmeister]

Yeah, the 0.01 % of the Universal classics that were available on Peacock until December 31st will return.

The other 99.99 % will remain safely locked away in the Universal Vault until Peacoxxx +++ VR 3D straight-to-your-frontal-lobe™ debuts in your local neural network in 2045.

[BluBonnet]

Originally Posted by tjritter79

Peacock, like every other streaming service, cycles their content. No one ever stated that one movies got there, they were going to remain forever. I'm sure the classics will return at some point.

You don't get it.

Peacock puts a very clear reminder right next to the name of all the movies and TV shows telling you how many days are left until it leaves Peacock. It updates every 24 hours, so it always reads something like "XX days left to watch"

The classics film category simply vanished overnight without any prior notice. If they knew all of these dozens of films were leaving on January 1st, they could have simply told everyone, like they do with all other content, and we would all have been able to plan accordingly.

I realize most other streamers don't have an integrated reminder when things are leaving that's right there on the menu next to the title of the movie/TV show.

EVERYBODY already knows things are bound to leave a streamer at some point or another, that's NOT NEWS to us.

In this particular instance, however, we're taking about Universal titles which the parent company owns in perpetuity, and which aren't currently licensed anywhere else. So it really doesn't look like there was a licensing agreement that made it necessary for the movies to be removed from Peacock so that they could stream somewhere else.

Since posting the thread, I've gotten a response from Peacock CS and they acknowledged that this was wrong on their part, though there is still no word on whether or not this category is comíng back or not.

[JayTL]

And unless it's a rights issue..there is zero reason to cycle content. It's a great way to lose subscribers.

But maybe this is related?

https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/ne...ree-for-a-week

Universal Classic Monster Films to Stream Free for a Week on YouTube

[BluBonnet]

Originally Posted by JayTL

And unless it's a rights issue..there is zero reason to cycle content. It's a great way to lose subscribers.

But maybe this is related?

Unlikely, as there is no reason for those movies to get exclusivity elsewhere, and more importantly, I don't even remember them being on Peacock in the first place.

I mean, there were several dozen films in the classic films section, right up to Dec. 31st and the overwhelming majority were not even horror films.

They were mostly dramas, comedies, and westerns. I believe it included all four Hope-Crosby "Road to" movies that Universal owns, as well as a number of Audie Murphy westerns, including the rare Destry (1954), a remake of Destry Rides Again.

[JayTL]

Originally Posted by BluBonnet

Unlikely, as there is no reason for those movies to get exclusivity elsewhere, and more importantly, I don't even remember them being on Peacock in the first place.

I mean, there were several dozen films in the classic films section, right up to Dec. 31st and the overwhelming majority were not even horror films.

They were mostly dramas, comedies, and westerns. I believe it included all four Hope-Crosby "Road to" movies that Universal owns, as well as a number of Audie Murphy westerns, including the rare Destry (1954), a remake of Destry Rides Again.

The Universal Monster movies were on Peacock. They still might be there, I havent loaded Peacock in a while

[tjritter79]

Originally Posted by JayTL

The Universal Monster movies were on Peacock. They still might be there, I havent loaded Peacock in a while

The Universal Classic Monster titles WERE on Peacock since their debut...even the limited debut for Comcast internet customers of which I am also part of.
And yes, now they are gone....
But it really isn't a "requirement" for Peacock to inform what's coming, or what's leaving. They simply do so as a customer service.

Compare this to TCM, the only films they have is what's on the service month-to-month linearly as well as VOD on their app. Peacock had the Universal Horror collection since their debut, plenty of time to get "your fill" given I'm sure their most popular period was prolly Halloween. And Warner owns numerable titles on both TCM and HBO Max....and BOTH these services cycle content, yes even content they own in perpetuity. Streaming services like these use "edge computing", which means these files are duplicated on server farms across the nation for easier access and efficient speeds. It's IMPOSSIBLE given the current technologies to permit EVERY single title owned to be available to the public 24/7, the server space needed to accommodate this is unconscionable.

Perhaps "some day" we will be able to accommodate the access of these titles in perpetuity on-demand and have no limit to our desired titles, regardless of how obscure they might be.....but in todays world we are not quite there yet.

[JayTL]

If I pay for peacock, and a reason I pay for Peacock leaves the service, I will stop paying for Peacock. If it's something owned by Peacock, then it would make me think twice about resubscribing. There's no reason to not have something when they could have it on there.

It's like if Netflix dropped Stranger Things because they want to feel "fresh". Or if HBO Max gets rid of their DC movies. It's a content war, and if they give any user a reason to leave their service, then they fail as a service provider. I'm glad I don't pay for Peacock. If I did, I would have cancelled.

[tjritter79]

Originally Posted by JayTL

If I pay for peacock, and a reason I pay for Peacock leaves the service, I will stop paying for Peacock. If it's something owned by Peacock, then it would make me think twice about resubscribing. There's no reason to not have something when they could have it on there.

It's like if Netflix dropped Stranger Things because they want to feel "fresh". Or if HBO Max gets rid of their DC movies. It's a content war, and if they give any user a reason to leave their service, then they fail as a service provider. I'm glad I don't pay for Peacock. If I did, I would have cancelled.

Well, HBO Max DID get rid of some DC movies (the animated ones) and they've returned as well. Like I said this is nothing new. Netflix does this, but maybe not their originals, and i'm sure there are more WB legacy titles and Universal legacy titles, that require to be cycled that Netflix doesn't have to, simply because they don't OWN as much.
Disney+ does/did this too! It's nothing new. And the reason is you cannot make EVERYTHING available. In a one sentence explanation...."there isn't enough space available to do so as far as storage without making the service a financial liability to most consumers".

[BluBonnet]

I'm a little confused as to the point that some folks here seem to be trying to make when they attempt to rationalize or excuse the actions by Peacock when even the Peacock reps themselves are admitting that we are justified in being upset by this, and that they're going to try to fix the situation.

Look guys, the least we can expect from a streaming service is consistency. If they start out putting a notice on all the shows and movies that are leaving so that you know you have to watch them soon, before they're gone, then it goes without saying that it's extremely inappropriate to suddenly remove an entire section with dozens of movies with absolutely no advance notice whatsoever.

The Peacock reps understand why some of their subscribers have a perfectly legitimate reason to be upset or dissatisfied with the situation, and they could not offer any valid reason why the entire category and dozens of Universal titles just vanished unexpectedly. There really isn't any valid reason, since no advance notice was given even though all other shows and movies do have a "XX days left to watch" notice, when they're leaving soon.

Look at Criterion, one other streamer that also gives plenty of advance notice - they create an entire section in the app which lists every single movie and short that will be leaving at the end of the month.

Absolutely no one is expecting something unreasonable - nobody is saying Universal should make every catalog title on its library available on Peacock indefinitely.

[JayTL]

Originally Posted by BluBonnet

Absolutely no one is expecting something unreasonable - nobody is saying Universal should make every catalog title on its library available on Peacock indefinitely.

Lol I am. Unless there's a good reason like licensing it out, there should be no reason for a movie they own to leave the service. Unless it gets cancelled, or literally no one watches it (and I mean it has zero views).

[tjritter79]

Originally Posted by BluBonnet

I'm a little confused as to the point that some folks here seem to be trying to make when they attempt to rationalize or excuse the actions by Peacock when even the Peacock reps themselves are admitting that we are justified in being upset by this, and that they're going to try to fix the situation.

Look guys, the least we can expect from a streaming service is consistency. If they start out putting a notice on all the shows and movies that are leaving so that you know you have to watch them soon, before they're gone, then it goes without saying that it's extremely inappropriate to suddenly remove an entire section with dozens of movies with absolutely no advance notice whatsoever.

The Peacock reps understand why some of their subscribers have a perfectly legitimate reason to be upset or dissatisfied with the situation, and they could not offer any valid reason why the entire category and dozens of Universal titles just vanished unexpectedly. There really isn't any valid reason, since no advance notice was given even though all other shows and movies do have a "XX days left to watch" notice, when they're leaving soon.

Look at Criterion, one other streamer that also gives plenty of advance notice - they create an entire section in the app which lists every single movie and short that will be leaving at the end of the month.

Absolutely no one is expecting something unreasonable - nobody is saying Universal should make every catalog title on its library available on Peacock indefinitely.

Well, perhaps I'm confused?
Are you MORE upset the content has been removed, or MORE upset you didn't get a notice it was leaving?
Criterion is a lot smaller service, and if I recall most of their content remains for a longer period of time. I was a Criterion Channel member for over a year (I even got one of those metal cards) and the reason I DON'T subscribe to Criterion is because HBO Max has the SAME films I watched on Criterion regularly....and due to their price HBO Max to me has more value for about the same money (I pay $11.99 per month for HBO/M).

Archival content (classic films) is the MOST recycled content by the streaming services. Like I said TCM did it with their own service, HBO Max does it, Criterion does it. Out of those I only recall Criterion having a section labeled "Leaving soon". I had TCM Watch for a very short time, and I'm told they did the same....honestly I don't recall seeing that. Same with Peacock and I've had it since the beta.

However, I'm a buff of ALL films,. and that includes classic films as well. Not sticking up for Peacock, but I guess I'm one of those who doesn't get too bent out of shape when a provider cycles their content....I've come to expect it actually. Netflix was notorious when stuff comes and goes even when its listed as your favorites, or on your list....and you go to watch it and its gone. It's the nature of the beast, when a service adds movies they either have to increase storage space to accommodate the add or they remove another title. But if its owned content, it usually returns in a short time.

[BluBonnet]

Originally Posted by JayTL

Lol I am. Unless there's a good reason like licensing it out, there should be no reason for a movie they own to leave the service. Unless it gets cancelled, or literally no one watches it (and I mean it has zero views).

I managed to watch 3 of their classic titles and all 3 seasons of AHH in December.

There were a good number of additional classic titles I was hoping to watch after the holidays, and actually really looking forward to. And I know a lot of classic film fans were in a similar situation.

None of the 3 titles I did get to watch have ever been released on physical media in the US - not by UHV, not licensed to any third party distributors.

So, you know, this part of their film library is literally being wasted if it's not made available to the people who'd be interested in watching them.

[BluBonnet]

Originally Posted by tjritter79

I guess I'm one of those who doesn't get too bent out of shape when a provider cycles their content

Neither do I, when the internal rules within each streamer are at least consistent and allow me to plan accordingly.

The Peacock representatives understand why this is upsetting/disappointing/disconcerting.... they acknowledge Peacock is at fault here and that they shouldn't be doing that, again, without letting people plan accordingly.

When you set up a business or service and you set certain rules that serve as a guideline for customers as to the level and availability of services, and you breach those guidelines that you yourself established and explained to customers, it shouldn't be surprising that customers won't be happy, and in a more extreme case you might even be technically liable for breach of contract.

In any case, they've been made aware of the issue and their official position is that they're looking at fixing it.