Peacock reps are telling Fire TV users to sideload their app

With the arrival of WWE on Peacock, Amazon Fire TV users that are fans of WWE were left stranded by the networks move to Peacock last week. In a first by a major streaming service, Peacock is telling Fire TV users, who ask about the app not being available in the Amazon Appstore, to sideload the app. Peacock is replying to Fire TV users on Twitter and Facebook that complain about not being able to watch the upcoming WWE WrestleMania event to explore “sideloading options.” Before you think this is some social media intern getting creative, Peacock’s official help article about supported devices also mentions sideloading on Fire TVs with a link to a Google search that leads people directly to AFTVnews guide for sideloading the Peacock app.

Peacock is in a way giving Fire TV users a “wink wink nudge nudge” with their wording about sideloading their app. On social media, they are saying “there are sideloading options that some customers have found helpful” while also mentioning that the app is not currently supported on Amazon devices. On their help page, they say “some users have been able to sideload Peacock onto their Amazon Fire TV” and provide a link to Google search for sideloading instructions, but then go on to say that “sideloading is not supported by Peacock.”

Of course, there is nothing wrong with sideloading apps on any Fire TV device. I’ve done it myself for many apps including the Peacock app on several Fire TV devices without any issues. It is easy to sideload Peacock on Fire TVs and Fire Sticks by following this guide.

It’s safe to say that it’s in Peacock’s best interest to get as many of their customers with Fire TVs to sideload the app. It’s assumed that the conflict between Amazon and Peacock is over sharing revenue and a good chance of control of the users’ experience and viewing data if Amazon wants to sell Peacock subscriptions through its Prime Video Channels marketplace. Every user that sideloads Peacock on a Fire TV is a user that benefits Peacock without needing to share any of their revenue with Amazon.