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Peacock TV's Premier League streams go down just as matches start

Playback of the matches appears to be coming through again on Peacock, and NBC Sports tweeted that the matches were also available free in its app.

Joan E. Solsman Former Senior Reporter

Joan E. Solsman was CNET's senior media reporter, covering the intersection of entertainment and technology. She's reported from locations spanning from Disneyland to Serbian refugee camps, and she previously wrote for Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal. She bikes to get almost everywhere and has been doored only once.

Expertise Streaming video, film, television and music; virtual, augmented and mixed reality; deep fakes and synthetic media; content moderation and misinformation online Credentials

Three Folio Eddie award wins: 2018 science & technology writing (Cartoon bunnies are hacking your brain), 2021 analysis (Deepfakes' election threat isn't what you'd think) and 2022 culture article (Apple's CODA Takes You Into an Inner World of Sign)

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Joan E. Solsman

Sept. 11, 2021 8:15 a.m. PT

2 min read

Peacock launches in the US on July 15.

Angela Lang/CNET

Users of Peacock TV, one of the only places in the US where fans can watch Premier League soccer matches, reported widespread disruptions trying to stream games live on the service on Saturday. The live-video playback appeared to start resuming service within about an hour, but not before viewers missed much of the first halves of most of the matches Peacock was slated to stream Saturday.

@peacockTV Trying to watch Premier League on Roku and the web player in Chrome and I get this. What's the fix? pic.twitter.com/tuWotExhUY
— Robbie Lanoue (@Robbie_Lanoue) September 11, 2021

Representatives for Peacock, which is run by Comcast's NBCUniversal, didn't immediately respond to a message seeking comment. NBC Sports' soccer-focused Twitter account said matches were also available to stream in the NBC Sports app, though some users reported snafus trying to watch there as well.

We are aware of current difficulties streaming matches on Peacock. All matches are currently available for free in the NBC Sports app. Thank you for your patience.
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) September 11, 2021

Social media was flooded with complaints about errors trying to livestream the matches, and Down Detector, the outage tracking website, reflected a surge in reports of disruptions Saturday.

Peacock has tens of thousands of hours of free programming, but only paying members can access everything, including Premier League games. Subscribers hoping to watch Saturday's matches are paying for either a $5-a month or a $10-a-month premium tier.

Peacock streams more than 175 matches live this season, and it has full replays of all 380 matches. Replays of all the matches that stream live on Peacock will be available shortly after the livestream ends, and replays of other matches are available on Peacock 24 hours after they end.

This Saturday, Peacock was supposed to be streaming live:

Brentford vs. Brighton at 7 a.m. PT/10 a.m. ET
Arsenal vs. Norwich City at 7 a.m. PT/10 a.m. ET
Watford vs. Wolves at 7 a.m. PT/10 a.m. ET
Man City vs. Leicester City at 7 a.m. PT/10 a.m. ET
Chelsea vs. Aston Villa at 9:30 a.m. PT/12:30 p.m. ET

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