Comcast unveiled plans for Xfinity Streampix
last week, a new multiscreen subscription video service
aimed squarely at Netflix that provides movies and full series
of past-season TV shows. Comcast will include Streampix
in several premium bundles and offer it for a monthly fee with
other video packages.
To launch Streampix, the cable operator has cut licensing
agreements with Disney-ABC Television Group (for TV shows
only), NBCUniversal, Sony Pictures, Warner Bros. Digital Distribution
and Cookie Jar.
Comcast said Streampix will be included as part of many
Xfinity triple-play packages, Blast! Plus and Blast! Extra
video/high-speed Internet packages, as well as separately for
$4.99 a month with other video packages.
Like Netflix’s streaming-video service, Streampix will be
available to customers inside and outside the home on multiple
devices, including TVs (as a subscription VOD folder),
computers and mobile devices. The new service is separate
from the 75,000 TV shows and movies currently available to
Comcast video subscribers on VOD, on XfinityTV.com and
through the Xfinity TV app.
“Our goal is to consistently deliver greater
value to our customers and to bring the best
anytime-anywhere entertainment on multiple
platforms,” Comcast senior vice president
and general manager of video services
Marcien Jenckes said. “Streampix is another
step moving ‘TV Everywhere’ forward by
giving customers access to an even greater
library of popular choices to watch.”
Initially, Streampix will offer full past seasons
of: NBC’s 30 Rock, Heroes and The Office; ABC’s Grey’sAnatomy, Lost and Ugly
Betty; ABC Family’s The Secret Life of the
American Teenager; and Sony’s Married …
With Children.
Movies on Streampix will include: Warner’s Analyze That,
Ocean’s Eleven and When Harry Met Sally; Universal’s Brokeback
Mountain and The Big Lebowski; and Sony’s Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Stuart Little.
Kids’ programming is set to include
Disney Channel’s The Suite Life of Zack
& Cody and Wizards of Waverly Place;
and Cookie Jar’s Inspector Gadget, Paddington
Bear and Strawberry Shortcake.
In the coming year, the Streampix
service will be available on additional
platforms such as Microsoft’s Xbox 360
and Android-powered devices, Comcast
said.
Xfinity TV also offers a suite of tools
to personalize and manage viewing
across screens for no additional charge
through XfinityTV.com and the Xfinity
TV app.
