Comcast to Expand Streaming Service Amid Cord-Cutting Trend

Megalith

Megalith

24-bit/48kHz
Staff member
Joined
Aug 20, 2006
Messages
13,000
The streaming-service onslaught continues as Comcast plans to capitalize on the trend with their offering, dubbed Xfinity Instant TV. While this isn’t a full-blown TV service, it is decently priced (starting at $15 a month) and offers at least one premium channel (e.g., HBO) at its entry tier. The bad news is that you will need to be a Comcast broadband subscriber, but don’t fret, as there are at least three other competitors: AT&T’s DirecTV, Google’s YouTube TV, and Hulu’s unnamed service.

The service, dubbed Xfinity Instant TV, will be priced as low as $15 a month to roughly $40 a month, sources said. It will include major broadcast networks as well as sports channels like ESPN and Spanish language channels such as Telemundo and Univision. Xfinity Instant TV is expected to be available in the third quarter to more than 50 million homes within Comcast's footprint, which includes cities such as Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Chicago. The company is changing its video offerings to be more targeted as viewer habits evolve. Xfinity Instant TV will be aimed at high-speed Internet subscribers who cannot afford or do not want to pay for bigger cable bundles, sources said.
 
Can someone just cobble together an offering that drops sports channels? I don't need or want ESPN or any other sports bullshit but it seems to be tacked onto every streaming package option as if everybody wants it. And that's part of what made people hate cable in the first place (besides the cost) and jump ship when there was something better on offer: having a bunch of channels you didn't want shoved on you whether you like it or not.
 
so that's why all of a sudden i don't have access to any of the channels i use to watch ondemand, thanks comcast.. as far as sports channels go because ESPN's parent company is ABC to get access to one you have to have both, nothing comcast can do about it. fox is doing it with FS1 now as well.
 
I like the idea of these services but realized I am more in it for shows than channels. What good is a whole channel if you're only watching one show from it? Got to agree with Dwango too; sports channels can eff the hell off.
 
sirmonkey1985 said:
so that's why all of a sudden i don't have access to any of the channels i use to watch ondemand, thanks comcast.. as far as sports channels go because ESPN's parent company is ABC to get access to one you have to have both, nothing comcast can do about it. fox is doing it with FS1 now as well.
Click to expand...

I think ESPN's stranglehold may be coming to an end. They'll clutch onto their tired business model, but will have to adapt at some point.

Carriers can't justify the $4-$6 per customer they want when it's included in just about every package. Not going to happen.
 
we have 50% of channels in spanish and 49% trash on the english ones.
 
Fuck. Comcast. In. The. Ear. Right in the ear hole. Fuck them.

Playstation Vue is where its at. 29.99 for everything Comcast was charging me at 2x the price with 1/2 the quality.
 
ATT has offered DirecTV Now as well to the streaming services. Had Playstation Vue but when ATT offered 100+ channels for $35/month, I bit. Buggy as heck for a while but straightening out now. Playstation Vue was the same way (buggy) when it went nationwide. Of course, good ol' ATT could shaft us anytime they want but they just gave us HBO free for the next year for putting up with "birth pains" during rollout. Had to get hateful cable company back for the speed of their internet (4K stuff) but don't want none of their overpriced programming garbage.
 
Domingow said:
Fuck. Comcast. In. The. Ear. Right in the ear hole. Fuck them.

Playstation Vue is where its at. 29.99 for everything Comcast was charging me at 2x the price with 1/2 the quality.
Click to expand...

eh spend 400 dollars on a console i'll never use or deal with comcast.. i'll take dealing with comcast since i pay 30 bucks a month for my tv service anyways. it's all about knowing how to play the system and always keeping your discounted monthly price. but to be honest the only reason i've kept the tv service is because of their top box which is pretty damn nice and being able to use netflix through it without it effecting my internet connection.
 
sirmonkey1985 said:
eh spend 400 dollars on a console i'll never use or deal with comcast.. i'll take dealing with comcast since i pay 30 bucks a month for my tv service anyways. it's all about knowing how to play the system and always keeping your discounted monthly price. but to be honest the only reason i've kept the tv service is because of their top box which is pretty damn nice and being able to use netflix through it without it effecting my internet connection.
Click to expand...

But that's the thing, I have no PS anything. Its an app on both Amazon FireTV and Android...and apple too. No Console needed.none.
 
Had to get the FireTV to run Playstation Vue on my Sony 4K TV! Didn't even have an app for it and made by the same people--thanks Sony. Much cheaper than a Playstation which I had absolutely no use for. Now have LG TV and use the FireTV with it for the DirecTV Now app--also allows for the Amazon Prime 4K stuff as well. Nice to be able to stream to the computer and smartphone as well as TV--for those slow days at work, ya know.
 
sirmonkey1985 said:
eh spend 400 dollars on a console i'll never use or deal with comcast.. i'll take dealing with comcast since i pay 30 bucks a month for my tv service anyways. it's all about knowing how to play the system and always keeping your discounted monthly price. but to be honest the only reason i've kept the tv service is because of their top box which is pretty damn nice and being able to use netflix through it without it effecting my internet connection.
Click to expand...

Make sure your Aware that NETFLIX on the box - counts towards your Internet terabyte limit....
 
Essentially it's a problem of the vast numbers of legacy video gear in production. It sucks up the vast majority of the RF spectrum. Then take into account 1080p and 4k channels. It's a mess. Cable companies only have so much space to use for Internet bandwidth which is required to give you the sweet sweet 300mb and above packages which is also used for the 4k streaming IPTV.

Two things are coming. DOCSIS 3.1 which allows for OFDM/OFDMA essentially doubling the bandwidth of Internet space in the spectrum as well as extending usable spectrum to 1.2Ghz and a bunch of CCAP stuff. It would take hours to explain how all this fits together, but I can tell you Cable companies hear you loud and clear. They just can't go full IPTV all in one go. If the entire US all once ditched the box the MSO would be forced to get butt in gear on the switch, but thats not gonna happen so they have to do it slowly step by step. Nursing people off the box. You can not imagine the fucking nightmare that was the Digital Conversion just so they could get rid of all the goddamn analog channels and get HD going.

Anyway again, yeah IPTV and 1Gbp full duplex is a thing and it's coming, be patient. I'd talk about fiber to the home but thats a whoooole other bag of worms. RFOG blah blah yadda yadda.
 
With the USA passing new laws this week to allow unconditional collection of your ISP data and trends, I am more anti-comcast than ever, being a subscriber to their services (best option here for tv and net and phone). Not really sure what to do at this point, but I'm hoping there will be better choices for online cord cutting, that rivals current cable options (I literally have every channel), at a reasonable price. Then I could find some boutique internet service to Jack me up nicely.
 
Spidey329 said:
I think ESPN's stranglehold may be coming to an end. They'll clutch onto their tired business model, but will have to adapt at some point.

Carriers can't justify the $4-$6 per customer they want when it's included in just about every package. Not going to happen.
Click to expand...


My local cable does have a cheaper plan that doesn't include ESPN. It also doesn't include several other Disney owned channels that the family watches.
This means I have to pay for ESPN that I never watch, or I have to listen to my family complain that half of what they watch is no longer available.

Much as I hate government regulation, these monopolistic policies need to be broken up, just like the must carry rules the media companies force on the cable TV industry.
Have them set a price for each channel, and let the cable or streaming companies sell the channels independently or put their own bundles together that make sense to their customers.
 
Axehandler said:
Make sure your Aware that NETFLIX on the box - counts towards your Internet terabyte limit....
Click to expand...

yup, which i'm fine with. i'm just happy that i can be downloading something at my rated DL speed while some one can be watching a 1080p movie and neither of them effecting each other.

nutzo said:
My local cable does have a cheaper plan that doesn't include ESPN. It also doesn't include several other Disney owned channels that the family watches.
This means I have to pay for ESPN that I never watch, or I have to listen to my family complain that half of what they watch is no longer available.

Much as I hate government regulation, these monopolistic policies need to be broken up, just like the must carry rules the media companies force on the cable TV industry.
Have them set a price for each channel, and let the cable or streaming companies sell the channels independently or put their own bundles together that make sense to their customers.
Click to expand...

we can only dream but since 90% of all TV channels in the US are owned by 4 companies and the top one of those companies happens to be comcast, i don't think we'll ever see it happen.
 
Last edited:
The Comcast channels through their cable box look like crap. Heavy pixelation and motion artifacts. Wonder if it will be any better through this service.
 
Say what you will about Comcast, but it's pretty impressive that they're actually adapting with the times instead of just going down in flames like so many other seemingly untouchable, huge businesses in the past.

Not just in IT either but Microsoft and AOL come to mind.
 
ZeqOBpf6 said:
Say what you will about Comcast, but it's pretty impressive that they're actually adapting with the times instead of just going down in flames like so many other seemingly untouchable, huge businesses in the past.

Not just in IT either but Microsoft and AOL come to mind.
Click to expand...

they are not being altruistic nor are they really adopting - they are setting themselves up to retain customers by creating another package that requires a comcast connection which now that those pesky consumer protections are gone, will set them in a good place to sell all that info in order to replace the revenue lost to cord cutting. all this really does is remove their STB from the equation.
 
I'd far prefer that the government do their job of anti-monopoly policing, and say that ISPs can't also be TV/content providers. That would eliminate the conflict of interest that causes data caps and buffering and jacked up internet rates for those that don't choose cable streaming.
 
sirmonkey1985 said:
so that's why all of a sudden i don't have access to any of the channels i use to watch ondemand, thanks comcast.. as far as sports channels go because ESPN's parent company is ABC to get access to one you have to have both, nothing comcast can do about it. fox is doing it with FS1 now as well.
Click to expand...
The way around that is to offer it without networks and have a stream dedicated to showing how easy it is to use an antenna for HD channels (though i guess it's not as easy in Apartments.
 
FYI - Hulu isn't a competitor of Comcast, considering they are 30% owned by Comcast.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top