Comcast Launches National Streaming TV Service
Posted by Jesse Ward on Monday, December 21, 2009 · 
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Comcast, the nation’s largest cable operator, went mainstream with its Fancast Xfinity TV service last week, officially launching its On Demand Online experience service nationally.
Fancast Xfinity is a free, ad-supported video Web site which allows users to watch full-length television shows from 27 networks online — including pay cable offerings HBO, Cinemax and Starz. The highly anticipated — and controversial — service is available to subscribers who pay for high-speed Internet access and television.
Comcast’s network partners in Xfinity include A&E, AMC, CBS, Discovery, History, TLC and TNT, among others. Of note, Comcast’s service does not yet have a content deal with NBC Universal, the media company that it is acquiring. But the site does offer the NBC shows that are available on Hulu.
Although the service is now available nationally, it is still in beta. Comcast began testing the service with 5,000 customers this past summer.
As you may remember, the cable industry has united behind the “TV Everywhere” initiative. The concept is aimed at organizing the industry around a single plan that would ask pay-TV subscribers to authenticate or identify themselves as paying customers before gaining access to online TV content.
In an era where free, ad-supported Web sites such as Hulu.com and ABC.com are gaining popularity, TV Everywhere aims to ensure that consumers stay connected to cable TV, even if it is through an online medium.
Read the release.
The New York Times has more.
For more, “Time Warner Cable, Verizon Launch TV on the Web.”
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