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The battle between cable and streaming rages on, this time over NBC’s new 30 Rock reunion special. According to Vulture‘s Josef Adalian, the majority of NBC affiliate stations are refusing to air the virtual special, which doubles as an upfront presentation for NBCUniversal’s 2020-2021 content. Large TV station groups across the country are reportedly concerned that the 30 Rock reunion is nothing more than a promotional spot for Peacock, and they are worried that viewers will be encouraged to ditch linear TV for the new streaming service.
While NBC has gone to great lengths to advertise the upcoming 30 Rock special in recent weeks, Vulture reports that only about half the country will be able to actually watch in real time. According to Adalian, better known as TVMoJoe, Gray Television, Hearst, Nextstar, Tegna, and Sinclair Broadcast Group have told NBC that they will be pre-empting the 30 Rock reunion with other content. These TV station groups cover about half the United States, which means that a large swathe of viewers will be SOL come Thursday night.
Sources close to the situation say that local station owners feel that the 30 Rock upfront “is too much of a promotion” for Peacock, NBCUniversal’s new streaming service. Because Peacock offers next-day reruns of NBC shows for premium customers, and next-week access for free tier subscribers, these television groups are reportedly concerned that viewers will cut the cord and switch full-time to streaming.
Decider has reached out to NBC for comment. A network representative confirmed the pre-emptions to Vulture but declined to comment further.
As Adalian reports, a minority of viewers will still be able to watch the upfront special live. NBC owns its stations in 10 of the largest U.S. markets, including New York and Los Angeles, so roughly 40% of the country will still have access to the 30 Rock special. The virtual reunion will also be available to stream on NBC.com and via the NBC app, on demand, and next-day on Peacock for free and premium customers.
The one place NBC’s 30 Rock reunion special will not stream? Hulu. All seven seasons of the Tina Fey comedy are currently available to stream on Hulu (which also boasts next-day streaming for many network titles), but the reunion special will not be among them. 30 Rock fans will also not be able to rent or purchase the upfront special on iTunes, Amazon Prime Video, or other non-NBC streaming platforms. That said, if you live in one of the 10 major TV markets, you will likely be able to stream the 30 Rock special on Hulu + Live TV.
NBC’s 30 Rock reunion special airs this Friday, July 16, at 8/7c. It will be available to stream the following day on Peacock, and will re-air across USA, Bravo, E!, Oxygen, SYFY, and CNBC on July 17 at 9/8c.
