Comcast adds new streaming-only service
America’s biggest cable TV provider unveiled its first streaming TV-only option Tuesday.
Comcast is launching Now TV as a new streaming service offering 40-plus live channels and on-demand content from A&E, AMC, Hallmark and Warner Bros. Discovery, plus more than 20 free adsupported channels from NBC, Sky and Xumo Play, and a subscription to Peacock Premium at no additional cost.
Now TV will be available to Xfinity internet customers for a monthly price of $20 with no equipment required and the ability to sign up and cancel anytime.
The new service is designed to appeal to valueconscious consumers who want a simple and convenient entertainment option with a variety of channels at a lower price than most other cable TV or streaming service options.
“With content and connectivity at the core of our company, we are uniquely positioned to build and deliver streaming entertainment offerings unlike anything else out there today,” Comcast President Dave Watson said in an announcement of the new service Tuesday. “Now TV is a great example of how our company brings together its collective video experiences, innovative technology and superior broadband service to deliver some of the best entertainment into one affordable steaming bundle.”
The new service also highlights the continued migration of television viewers to streaming services offered via the internet, rather than traditional cable TV connections.
In Chattanooga, EPB’s high-speed internet service has overtaken Comcast as the city’s biggest video provider with nearly 130,000 of the roughly 180,000 households in EPB’s 600-square-mile service territory now subscribing to one of EPB’s fiber optic services. But only about a third of EPB’s fiber optic customers still get EPB’s video services similar to cable TV. When EPB began its fiber optic service, more than 95% of its residential subscribers got their video service from EPB.
At launch, Now TV Live and Xfinity Stream’s free ad-supported channels will be accessible through the Xfinity Stream app on supported devices, including Xfinity Flex, iOS, Android and Fire TV, and via casting through Apple AirPlay and Google Chromecast.
The all-in-one Now TV streaming package is targeted for those who want access to a small set of cable TV channels but don’t want the much pricier subscriptions offered by Hulu with Live TV, FuboTV and Sling TV.
In the United Kingdom and other European countries, Comcast-owned Sky Group has already been using the Now TV brand name.
Comcast said Now TV is the first streaming offering in the market to combine a live TV streaming service, free ad-supported streaming TV channels and a subscription video on demand service.