Today Comcast is launching a beta version of Watchable, an ad-supported, digital video platform available to iOS, watchable.com and X1 users via tables, phones, computers and TVs.
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Watchable takes the form of a web site, an app for mobile devices and an app on Comcast’s X1 set top box. And cord-cutting storm clouds are already clapping thunder over the TV biz.
“We think Watchable can be a unique place that curates and distributes the best content from a few of the most recognized brands and producers on the web”, Comcast said in an announcement Tuesday.
In doing so, Comcast is taking a play out of Verizon’s playbook, whose Go90 app also forgoes a monthly charge.
Comcast does have a large installed base of 22-plus million TV subscribers, and Schwartz notes that “many of our Watchable partners have not traditionally had distribution on the TV, and we can give them a path to reach new audiences and further monetize their content on the biggest screen in the home”. Whether they’ll really have an ongoing urge to watch shorter, made-for-digital material through Comcast’s Watchable funnel is not at all obvious.
The point of Watchable is to create a widespread digital-video platform that rivals the online video efforts of Facebook and YouTube.
Comcast’s experiment with a video streaming service comes as the pay-TV market is struggling to retain users gravitating towards online video offerings and moving away from traditional TV content. If it works, it’s all upside.
As younger viewers increasingly move toward digital platforms like YouTube, Hulu, Netflix and Amazon, Comcast hopes adding that content to its existing service will help it keep subscribers.
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“We want to continue to connect creators of compelling content with viewers who want to be entertained, and have been experimenting with new partnerships to deliver more high-quality videos from the web, especially to the television”, Sam Schwartz, Comcast’s chief business development officer, said in a blog post.
