NBC Peacock is the latest streaming service on the block, and whilst it’s available on lots of smart devices and platforms, Amazon Fire TV customers are one large group that are missing out on the service.
NBCUniversal and Amazon did not manage to reach an agreement by the time Peacock launched (the same thing happened with Roku), but there is still a chance that Peacock will be available for Amazon Fire TV customers a bit further down the line.
In the meantime, here’s some workarounds that you can try at home to get Peacock to play on your TV. If you’ve not yet signed up to the streaming platform, you can get a free account over on the Peacock website, or upgrade to Premium for $4.99 for ad-supported viewing, and $9.99 for ad-free viewing.
Ways to watch NBC Peacock on a Amazon Fire TV
At the moment, there is no direct app for NBC Peacock on Amazon Fire TV. However, you can still connect other devices to your TV and cast the app onto your screen. Here’s a few things you can attempt:
- Purchase a Chromecast and screen share to your TV using either the Peacock app or website
- If you have an Xbox One or PS4, link this up to your TV and download the game app of Peacock
- If you have a smart TV, check if the Peacock app is available on there
- Link up your laptop/PC to your TV with a HDMI cable and watch NBC Peacock directly through the browser
It’s worth noting that whilst we managed to stream Peacock via a HDMI cable from a Windows laptop successfully, some readers have reported having issues using a HDMI, with the error screen below coming up:
Whilst we don’t exactly know the issue causing this, we suggest either trying a few different browsers, or a different device altogether. We’ll be investigating this to find out more and will update this piece if we get further information.
Sideloading apps onto Amazon Fire TV
If you really want the Peacock app directly available on your Amazon Fire TV device, then there is the possibility of using sideloading. To do this, you’ll need an Android phone to hand, and you’ll have to have uninstalled Peacock if you have that on your phone’s App Store.
Please note that we haven’t tested this method out, and are only recommending it based on previous Tech Advisor articles with other apps. Proceed at your own risk.
Here’s the steps in their most basic form:
- Go on your Amazon Fire TV device and head to Settings > My Fire TV > Developer Options > Toggle ADB Debugging and Apps from Unknown Sources to ‘On’
- Install the Amazon App Store on your Android phone
- Open this link within your phone’s browser and follow the instructions (check the Unknown Sources box before you can successfully install the store)
- Open the App Store on your phone and search for AKG Fire, from developer Gopi Adusumilli
- On your Fire TV, head to Settings > System > About > Network and find its IP address
- Open AKG Fire on your phone (the name will appear as AFTV Side Loader) and type in the same IP address that appears on your TV when prompted
- Scroll through the app list until you find Peacock, tap on it and choose to install it on your TV (this will take a couple of minutes)
- The app won’t appear on the main menu – to find it you must head to Settings > Applications > Manage All Installed Applications
- Click on Peacock, then hit ‘Launch Application’
For more details on this, take a look at our full guide on how to sideload apps onto Amazon’s Fire TV.
Via Techadvisor