Aiming to help viewers catch up on TV series on VOD while also juicing up ratings for the new TV season, Comcast said its third-annual “Xfinity Watchathon Week” will run April 6-12, and offer access to 215 shows across more than 40 premium, cable and broadcast channels.
Comcast is running the promo across its platforms, including set-top VOD, at Xfinity.com/TV and its Xfinity TV Go app, with content available in “virtually all cases…regardless of which video subscription tier the customer is subscribed to.”
In addition to giving viewers a chance to binge on shows such as American Crime, CSI: Cyber, Dig, Empire, Finding Carter, The Affair, Black Sails, and Game of Thrones, this year’s version will also feature content for Latino customers with access to shows from HBO Latino, UniMás, and Telemundo. Other programmers that will participate in Comcast’s upcoming Watchathon include Cinemax, Encore, HBO, Showtime, Starz, A&E, AMC, BBC America, Bravo, Comedy Central, Discovery, DIY Network, E!, El Rey Network, Esquire Network, FX, FXX, History, Lifetime, MTV, National Geographic Channel, OWN, Oxygen, Pivot, Pop, Spike, Syfy, TBS, TNT, TruTV, TV Land, VH1 and USA Network; and broadcast networks: ABC, CBS, The CW, FOX, Galavisión, NBC, NBC Universo, and PBS.
Comcast is also backing the spring VOD-fest with a sweepstakes that will offer registrants the chance to win a $20,000 grand prize, show-themed vacations (including a GoT-themes trip to Northern Ireland, and an Outlander-themed getaway to Scotland), and daily giveaway of a “Binge Box” containing a mini tablet, headphones, snacks, and other items. Comcast will also push the week-long viewing event on social networks, including Facebook, on Twitter (using the #Watchathon hashtag) via its @Xfinity and @Comcast handles.
Last year’s Comcast Watchathon Week, which featured more than 5,000 episodes from 48 TV channels and north of 130 TV series, broke several VOD records for the MSO, generating 61 million views and 50 million hours of TV bingeing. The tilt also helped to drive live ratings for shows such as GoT, which got a 17% boost in Comcast homes versus non-Comcast homes in the U.S.
“Xfinity On Demand has become the go-to destination for catching up and staying current on all of the programming available today. Watchathon enables us to take that to the next level by unlocking the biggest and best TV content of the year for the ultimate TV binge week,” Comcast Cable VP of programming Andy Hunter said in a statement.
