Comcast’s IP-capable, next-gen X1 video platform has landed in Michigan, getting the MSO one step closer to completing the bulk of its deployment by the end of 2013.
Comcast has deployed X1, which features a cloud-based guide, to about 53% of its footprint, cable unit president and CEO Neil Smit said Wednesday on the company’s second quarter earnings call, noting that the platform has produced a 20% spike in VOD views (when compared to VOD performance on the legacy platform) and is boosting subscriptions to premium services.
He said it’s too early to determine X1’s effect on churn, “but I think there might be some favorable trends there.” Comcast lost 159,000 video customers in the second quarter, an improvement over the 176,000 it lost in the year-ago period.
At this juncture, Comcast is marketing X1 to new triple play subscribers. It ended the second quarter with 21.77 million video subs and 53.49 million homes and businesses passed.
