Comcast reports its Xfinity Watchathon Week, which happened April 3-9 this year, had subscribers bingeing more than 77 million hours of content – up 42 percent from the 54 million hours consumed in 2013 when the promo first launched. Watchathon gives customers a free pass during the week to thousands of episodes on-demand including programming from Netflix, Starz, Showtime, and others.
“Mobile viewing alone has tripled − from 1.5 million hours viewed during the first Watchathon, to 4.5 million hours this year,” the operator says in a blog. “Since the first event, the number of participating networks has nearly tripled (20 to 58) and the number of current season stacked shows available during the week has grown more than six-fold (53 to 350).”
This year’s Watchathon reportedly focused more than ever on offering more shows from the beginning of their run. The addition of Netflix on X1 provided 10 times more complete series available for viewing from 16 in 2013 to 161 in 2017, Comcast says.