Comcast has partnered with ABC Television and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to offer XFinity X1 customers an “immersive” viewing experience for The Oscars telecast later this month.
This is the second time that Comcast has teamed up to offer X1 customers expanded content and coverage of The Academy Awards. In 2016, according to Nielsen data, Oscar ratings were 39% higher in Comcast households versus non-Comcast homes during the broadcast.
The 89th Oscars will be held on Sunday, Feb. 26, in Hollywood, and will be broadcast live on ABC at 7 p.m. ET.
This year X1 customers will have access to more than 1,500 hours of content, as well as live streams of backstage and red carpet activity, live voice commands and enhanced extras.
“This year’s The Oscars experience is another example of X1 enabling us to collaborate with content partners to build innovative and immersive viewing experiences around their programming,” said Comcast Cable General Manager of Movies, Pay-Per-View and Commerce, Daniel Spinosa in a statement. “The Oscars is an iconic and beloved event watched by millions of Americans across the country and we’re excited to further expand our partnership with ABC and the Academy to enhance the experience for X1 customers.”
Comcast said the Oscars destination on X1 will feature:
·“The Oscars: All-Access” digital stream, which includes footage from red carpet and backstage cameras, will be available on X1 and myxfinity.com the day of the broadcast starting at 7 p.m. ET.
·New voice commands to help customers quickly find Oscar-winning films from year’s past. Saying “show me” and the name of the film will take customers to that movie’s page and hear an actual notable quote from the film voiced back to them.
·An expansive on demand collection of more than 700 Oscar-winning films, as well as highlights and web clips related to this year’s nominees and historic moments from year’s past.
The day after the show, the full 89th Oscars ceremony will be available to watch on demand. In addition, highlights from the event will be added to the destination, giving customers the opportunity to catch-up or re-live the night’s biggest moments, including red carpet interviews, winner speeches and skits.
The majority of the historical The Oscars video content plus the highlights from the 2017 show will be available through March 15. Select Xfinity On Demand The Oscars content will also be available over the Internet on the Xfinity TV app and online portal.
