"Days of Our Lives" will stream exclusively on Peacock as of next month, bringing an end to its 57-year run on NBC.
As of Sept. 12, the long-running daytime soap opera will be available on Peacock and the show's time slot on NBC will be filled by the news program "NBC News Daily," the company reported in a statement Wednesday to The Wall Street Journal.
"This programming shift benefits both Peacock and NBC and is reflective of our broader strategy to utilize our portfolio to maximize reach and strengthen engagement with viewers," Mark Lazarus, chairman of NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, said, according to TVLine.
A person familiar with the matter told WSJ that a large portion of "Days of Our Lives" viewership comes either on demand, on Peacock or on another digital platform, making the shift not so daunting.
"With a large percentage of the 'Days of Our Lives' audience already watching digitally, this move enables us to build the show’s loyal fan base on streaming while simultaneously bolstering the network daytime offering with an urgent, live programming opportunity for partners and consumers," Lazarus explained.
Peacock launched in 2020 and while it initially struggled, NBCUniversal took steps to ensure its success, which included taking "The Office," off Netflix so that episodes would only live on Peacock. Additionally, high-profiling programming will shift back to Peacock after NBCUniversal ended its deal with Walt Disney Co.’s Hulu.
Peacock subscribers will have access to new episodes of "Days of Our Lives" as well as access to the lengthy library of past episodes, which surpassed 14,000 episodes in 2020.
Currently, new episodes air weekdays on NBC while episodes from the previous two seasons are available for streaming on Peacock. With the shift, only three daytime soap operas will remain on broadcast television — ABC’s "General Hospital," and CBS’ "The Bold and the Beautiful" and "The Young and the Restless."
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