Parks and Recreation may lose its "pop-culture momentum" now that it's a Peacock exclusive

Vulture

The NBC comedy went from being on Netflix, Hulu and Amazon on Wednesday to being only available on Peacock starting today. While Peacock is making Parks and Rec available on its free tier with advertising, being on a new streaming service will likely hurt the show's long-term popularity, says Josef Adalian. "Unlike Friends or even The Office at its peak, Parks was never a ratings blockbuster," says Adalian. "It even struggled to get renewed during its first few years. But it has thrived during its digital afterlife, with its ubiquity on multiple platforms making it a favorite to streaming audiences, at least based on the limited public data there is. Back in 2017, Hulu (without releasing any specific numbers) said that streams of Parks jumped 32 percent that year vs. 2016 — impressive growth given the show signed off in 2015. And in 2018, Nielsen streaming ratings shared with the Wall Street Journal indicated Parks was one of the most-consumed TV titles on Netflix that year, at least as measured by minutes consumed. (That metric is hardly the most important one for streamers when determining a show’s success or even value, but it does hint at overall passion for a show.)" Parks and Rec's streaming success is why NBC Universal wanted to have the show all to itself. But now subscribers on Netflix, Hulu and Amazon will have to make the extra effort to find it. "Being on Peacock won’t stop the show from finding new fans, particularly since the platform is free and will be heavily promoted by NBCUniversal," says Adalian. "I just think there’s a risk of the show losing some pop-culture momentum — the kind that The Office and Friends had gained during recent years — as it shifts to a newer platform with far less reach."