Northwestern University has become the first college in the Midwest to rollout Xfinity On Campus, an IP-delivered multiscreen video service that relies on Comcast’s X1 platform.
TheChicago Tribune reported Monday that the Evanston, Ill.-based school is rolling it out this fall, offering on-campus students access to more than 130 live TV channels via WiFi to laptop and PC browsers and other supported mobile devices. The Xfinity On Campus website has also added Northwestern to its list of supported universities.
Northwestern’s total enrollment is about 21,000, a number that includes 8,000 full-time undergrads, 8,000 full-time graduate students and part-time students.
Following a trial period, Comcast announced the commercial launch of Xfinity On Campus last month, offering a multiscreen, IP-delivered version of its service for students that complements the bulk video service they were already getting. Xfinity On Campus is a managed service delivered via a school’s managed WiFi network, and includes access to several authenticated TV Everywhere apps such as WatchESPN, FXNOW and HBO Go. Comcast is also pairing Xfinity On Campus with its new cloud DVR service as it expands the capability to more regions. Comcast uses its fiber-based Ethernet platform to deliver IP video to its university partners.
Other universities on board with Xfinity ON Campus include Bridgewater College (Bridgewater, Va.); Drexel University (Philadelphia); Emerson College (Boston); Lasell College (Newton, Mass.); the University of Delaware (Newark, Del.); Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, Mass.); and the University of New Hampshire (Durham, N.H.).
Cox Communications has developed a similar service, called Campus Connect, and has signed on Tulane University and Creighton University.
Philo, meanwhile, already has deals in place to bring its IP-based, multiscreen platform to “dozens” of universities. Announced Philo partners include Yale University, Fort Hays State University, University of Washington, Roanoke College, Harvard University, Lubbock Christian University, Stanford, Wesleyan University, Pepperdine University, and William Patterson University of New Jersey.
