Comcast and Charter Communications, the two biggest cable operators in the U.S., are joining forces in the streaming wars.
The two companies on Wednesday announced a 50-50 joint venture to develop and offer a next-generation streaming platform on a variety of branded 4K streaming devices and smart TVs to reach customers in major markets across the country with the platform.
Comcast will license Flex, its aggregated streaming platform and hardware to the JV, contribute the retail business for XClass TVs, and contribute Xumo, the free, ad-supported streaming service it acquired in 2020. Charter will make an initial contribution of $900 million, funded over multiple years.
The XClass TVs will be available through national retail partners and potentially direct from Comcast and Charter to provide more customer choice. Xumo will continue to operate as a free global streaming service available through the joint venture’s products and third-party devices. Charter will offer the 4K streaming TV devices and voice remotes beginning in 2023. Comcast will continue to offer the Flex streaming platform as a streaming device and service to its customers.
“We’re thrilled to partner with Charter to bring this platform and its award-winning experience to millions of new customers. These products are all designed to make search and discovery across live, on-demand and streaming video seamless and incredibly simple for consumers,” said Dave Watson, CEO of Comcast Cable, in a statement. “This partnership uniquely brings together more than a decade of technical innovation, national scale and new opportunities to monetize our combined investment.”
Charter CEO Tom Rutledge added, “Our new venture will bring a full-featured operating platform, new devices, and smart TVs with a robust app store providing a more streamlined and aggregated experience for the customer. As the video landscape continues to evolve, this venture will increase retail consumer options, compete at scale with established national platforms, and join our existing lineup of options for the Spectrum TV App available on most customer-owned streaming devices.”
The joint venture’s products will feature hundreds of free content choices through Xumo, which currently delivers more than 200 unique streaming channels. Peacock also will be featured on the JV’s streaming platform, alongside other popular apps.
The closing of the joint venture is subject to customary closing conditions. This joint venture does not involve the broadband or cable video businesses of either Comcast or Charter, which will remain independent, the companies said.