Shaw Communications took the next step in its rollout of BlueSky TV, a new offering powered by Comcast’s X1 platform, by extending access to customers in Vancouver.
Shaw introduced BlueSky TV in Calgary last month.
RELATED: Shaw Launches ‘BlueSky TV,’ Powered by Comcast’s X1 Platform
Shaw’s service features many of the calling cards of X1, including a voice remote, Kids Zone view, a sports app, and a whole-home DVR. Shaw has not announced if it also intends to support other X1-facing features such as a cloud DVR that Comcast is deploying or the integration of OTT services like Netflix.
Shaw is selling BlueSky TV with its WideOpen Internet 150 tier starting at C$99.90 per month for the first 12 months as part of the MSO’s two-year “ValuePlan” contract.
Speaking on the company’s recent fiscal Q1 earnings call, Shaw president Jay Mehr estimated that nearly 200,000 boxes deployed by the operator are already compatible with X1, and that the operator has been buying X1-compatible devices for the past 18 months in anticipation of the launch of the service for set-top boxes.
Last year, Shaw launched mobile app called FreeRange TV that also uses Comcast’s X1 platform.
Shaw will be drawing on Comcast’s technology playbook as it looks to improve its video results. In fiscal Q1, Shaw lost 13,146 residential video subs. Comcast, by comparison, added 80,000 video subs in Q4 2016, and added more than 160,000 for the full year.
