Charter to offer NBCUniversal's Peacock streaming service at no extra charge

(Reuters) -Charter Communications will offer NBCUniversal's Peacock streaming service to some customers at no extra cost from next year, in a move to boost the cable and broadband firm's user base.

The multi-year deal includes renewal of Comcast-owned NBCUniversal's portfolio of networks, including broadcast, entertainment and sports, the companies said on Wednesday, without disclosing the financial terms.

Customers of Charter's cable TV plan Spectrum TV Select, which already includes streaming platforms such as Disney+, ESPN+ and Paramount+, will now have access to ad-supported Peacock streaming service.

Cable TV operators are bundling streaming services in an attempt to hold on to their subscriber base. Shares of Charter, which has 13.31 million total video customers as of June 30, inched 1.2% higher.

Charter renewed a similar deal with Warner Bros Discovery last month by adding Max and Discovery+ streaming services to its package at no additional charge.

"We now have completed deals with every major programmer to create better flexibility and greater value to our customers by including DTC streaming apps with their Spectrum TV service, at no extra cost," said Tom Montemagno, Charter's executive vice president of programming acquisition.

The company won some concessions from Walt Disney last year as it negotiated for a smaller package of programming and gained rights to distribute Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ to its Spectrum TV customers.

(Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)