Comcast’s Watchable is a YouTube-like digital video platform

On Friday, Comcast announced that a digital video platform is on the way. The company expects to launch its YouTube-like service, likely called Watchable, in the coming weeks. Although the company is one of the largest sellers of video advertisements in the United States, YouTube and Facebook have been chipping away at Comcast’s market share. The issue with those two, however, is the lack of access and appeal to traditional television viewers.

Content providers at launch for Watchable include Vox Media, Buzzfeed, AwesomenessTV, Refinery29, The Onion, Mic, Vice, and NBC Sports. All of them, even the ones not yet mentioned, are required by Comcast to upload “all unlicensed, original video content to Watchable for users to stream on demand.” Comcast will not be paying a single penny for content and those providing it are locked into deals that may last up to a few years. The advantages for content providers, according to Business Insider, range from Watchable being a new marketing opportunity with more visibility on television to the big potential revenue stream.

However, deals between Comcast and content providers are nonexclusive and that means content can end up elsewhere, too.

Anyone with an Xfinity X1 set-box will have access to Watchable and everything Comcast’s content partners offer.

So how will Comcast expand Watchable’s audience? By pushing subscribers to get that Xfinity X1 set-box. Comcast could then get Watchable into as many as 20 million homes in less than three years. Also, Android and iOS devices will see a Watchable app to stream content from anywhere. Comcast’s advantage is that its services are already in millions of homes, so the mobile apps would only be a boost.

Source: Business Insider

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