NBC News to launch direct to consumer subscription streamer

NBC News is launching a standalone direct-to-consumer streaming service, according to an Axios report.

NBCUniversal News Group chief digital officer Chris Berend told the publication that the service, which is described as having a launch date “in the coming days,” that the DTC offering will not have a distinct name, instead being known as “NBC News.”

The service will create a hub of digital content produced by NBC News and, to a lesser extent, Telemundo, in a single place for a flat fee. Subscribers will also enjoy ad-free experiences. 

It will be accessed within the existing NBC News apps while also being available via desktop and mobile web browsers. 

At launch, the service is expected to include 22 of the network’s existing free, ad-supported streaming television options, including NBC News Now, NBC Sports, Today All Day, Dateline 24/7, Sky News and Noticias Telemundo Ahora. It will also include access to NBCU’s local streaming channels in markets where it owns the local station.

It’s worth noting that as FAST offerings, these are already available for free to viewers, but it appears NBC will remove the advertising from what subscribers see. In place of commercial breaks, viewers will likely either see a “we’ll be right back” graphic or fullscreen loops of headlines and other content. 

NBC is also throwing in access to 46 podcasts, including the “Today” and “Dateline” offerings. NBC will continue to sell access to “Dateline” via Spotify and Apple Podcasts, but these subscriptions won’t unlock access the broader range of content through the DTC. 

The network is also planning to offer exclusive content for subscribers to the NBC News DTC offering, including “several” new vertical video shows as well as four to six pieces of platform-exclusive video content from NBC News personalities. These were described as “dispatches” and “video briefings.”

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Subscribers will also have access to the full versions of “Today,” “NBC Nightly News,” “Meet the Press” and “Dateline” shortly after they air on linear. While Telemundo news programming won’t be included at launch beyond the FASTs, the network did note it may expand into offering more Spanish-language content in the future. 

The service will also include access to new newsletter offerings. 

Costs for the new service have not been determined, nor is there a firm launch date, but it will likely be in the $4 to $7 per month range, according to Axios reporting.

Axios also notes that Berend says the network sees the target audience for the new service as viewers from “between the coasts,” so it isn’t directly trying to compete with media brands coming out of New York, Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles.

The announcement comes on the heels of CNN’s second attempt at streaming — its “All Access” tier, though NBC News’ service represents a different approach. 

Unlike CNN, NBC did not indicate any plans to build a paywall around the core content of its website or mobile apps. CNN All Access removes advertising from CNN.com and its mobile apps.

Creating DTC offerings without distinct names or branding, as NBC’s new offering is doing, has become a popular route of late and is likely tied to executives’ desire to get consumers to view FAST, DTC and traditional linear offerings as close equivalents to each other that all originate from the same source.

ESPN used a similar strategy when it launched its streaming offering, officially called ESPN DTC, earlier in 2025. That said, the word “Unlimited” is often used when referring to the service, though this is technically the name of the network’s top subscription streaming option.

Likewise, the “All Access” branding is also the name of the top streaming tier, not the actual DTC feeds. 

NBCU has tried its hand at other subscription products in the past, including CNBC+, which offers access to a linear feed of its business day programming. CNBC is scheduled to be spun off from NBCU parent Comcast in the near future. 

CNBC+ also differentiates itself by switching between feeds aimed at the Americas, Europe and Asia, typically cutting away from the evening and overnight schedule in each of its markets in favor of shifting to the next region of the world. It also lets users view an enhanced data layer that provides live and more extensive market updates 24 hours a day.

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