Comcast is gearing up for the launch of its new “Xfinity Instant TV” streaming service later this year, executives say.
According to comments made by Comcast Cable CEO David Watson during an earnings call last week, the Instant TV offering is slated for a full debut at the end of the third quarter. The service will reportedly be delivered via a managed network and available without a set-top box. Watson indicates Comcast is targeting millennials and other niche segments with the offering.
“This is a program that we’ve been looking at to go after. Primarily (aimed at) the segments like millennials, this is not something that we’ll do broad-based in terms of our approach to the market. This is going to be very targeted, primarily digital in nature,” Watson says. “We love our fall video positioning with X1, so we’ll continue to compete aggressively with that. But Instant TV gives us one more part of the portfolio to be able to go after different segments with.”
Watson notes Comcast is still testing different price points for the service, but the operator’s video chief Matt Strauss told TechCrunch earlier this year packages will start at $15 per month.
Comcast already offers a service called Xfinity Stream that gives customers in parts Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, and New Hampshire access to TV, HBO, and movies on their computer, tablet, or smartphone. The launch of Xfinity Instant TV appears to be an expansion and rebranding of that product, with the goal of putting Comcast more firmly in line with competitors like AT&T and Charter.
AT&T’s DirecTV Now streaming service was launched late last year, and has been working its way through growing pains. In its second quarter earnings report, AT&T says it added 152,000 subscribers on DirecTV Now but lost 156,000 legacy DirecTV Now customers.
Charter is also reportedly looking to fight the cord-cutting trend by offering its own streaming service. The operator in June confirmed it is testing “Spectrum Stream,” an IP delivered in-home TV product that offers TV everywhere out-of-home streaming. More on that here.
