Even Comcast wants to Netflix and chill

The streaming video will be added onto the same bill.

One of the nation’s largest cable companies is adding Netflix directly to its product lineup.

Comcast said Friday that you will soon be able to purchase a Netflix subscription from the TV and Internet provider as part of a regular bundle of services.

Just as consumers currently pay a monthly fee to Comcast for broadband, phone and video channels, the company said, customers will this month be able to add the streaming video giant onto the same bill.

It’s unclear how Netflix will be priced as part of the bundle; a Comcast spokeswoman declined to provide specifics. Netflix viewing, she said, will count against customer data caps just like any other online app.

“Netflix is an important supplement to the content offering on X1, and the ability to include Netflix in our packages will offer more choice, value and flexibility to customers,” the spokeswoman said.

The billing partnership is a first of its kind for the cable industry, which is undergoing significant changes as more Americans cut the cord. (Comcast lost 186,000 residential TV subscribers last year, according to its financial reports.)

Offering Netflix within the bundle could benefit Comcast “a little,” said Craig Moffett, an industry analyst at the research firm MoffettNathanson, by helping the company retain customers who might otherwise cancel their TV subscriptions and switch to Netflix separately.

Netflix could benefit by gaining greater access to Comcast customers who do not already subscribe to the video-on-demand service and who aren’t likely to cut the cord; the streaming company has faced investor concerns about continued growth in the United States.