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Reports surfaced throughout Saturday claim that major TV provider Comcast is preparing to enter the on-demand industry with a new internet video platform named Watchable.
According to the Business Insider, Comcast’s latest major investment in Vox Media and the rumored similar deal with BuzzFeed are actually moves to secure big name content for the platform at launch rather than just your usual corporate business. Comcast is reportedly aiming as high as challenging YouTube for its reign supreme as the internet’s top video playback site.
Alongside Vox and Buzzfeed, the report suggests that sites like AwesomenessTV, The Onion, Refinery29 or Vice will also somehow be involved in the project, as well as brands such as NBC Sports. If the report is to be believed, Comcast may aim for exclusivity deals with these brands so as to provide unique content and possibly stimulate initial user base growth. The list partnerships is also not finished, as many more internet big names are expected to jump the ship into Comcast’s garden.
Watchable will also be integrated with Comcast’s own Xfinity X1 set-top box, which offers user unlimited on-demand streaming of movies and TV shows. The listed sites will automatically upload all of their original video content to the platform, which will then be curated for Xfinity users; there are also plans of brining the service to iOS and Android devices in the future.
The also will not include any licensing fees, as it will bring online-exclusive creators exposure to the TV public; however, they will still be paid advertisement revenues. This might be huge for middle-tier internet brands as this could offer them access to the big advertisement money circulated in the TV area – but the challenge will be producing content relevant to TV watchers.
Comcast is also preparing the field ahead for its upcoming service; sources close to the company claim that normal TV subscriber boxes will steadily be replaced with their Xfinity counterparts by 2017. No additional details to what this might entail are known – whether Comcast is going to replace them for free or offer user chances to get them at a significantly discounted price or bundle them with subscription packages.
Comcast has not responded to any of the report’s details, but it is expected that at least some of them are accurate. Major rival Verizon is also preparing a similar service including some of the names rumored in the Watchable deal, as classic TV providers are moving into the growing online video services.
Image Source: Mashable
