Comcast launches Stream, its own cord-cutting service

The catch is that it's only available for subscribers of Comcast's Xfinity Internet service

How do you know that television as we know it is dead and officially moved over to the Internet?

Since the big cable companies - not exactly the most forward-thinking and innovative - have resigned to accept it.

Comcast is the latest cable company to announce its own streaming service, called Stream, which will allow its customers to watch live television without needing a cable subscription. In January, Dish announced its Sling TV service.

We've seen networks, including HBO and Showtime, launch their own stand-alone services, ones that do not require a cable subscription, but it's been a little more surprising that now we're starting to see cable companies move their contact online as well. When those guys can see the writing on the wall, you know it's being written in big, thick letters. 

With Stream, Xfinity Internet customers will be able to watch live TV from about a dozen networks on their laptops, tablets and phones. That includes all of the major broadcast networks, as well as HBO. It will also include thousands of on demand movies and shows, and a cloud DVR so customers can watch them later on.

Stream will be available for only $15 per month and will first launch in Boston at the end of the summer. The plans are then to launch it in Chicago and Seattle, then to make it available everywhere by early 2016.

"The way we watch TV has become more personal than ever. I like to watch live on the big screen in my living room. My kids, on the other hand, prefer to catch up with their favorite shows on their laptops, on demand," Matt Strauss, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Video Services for Comcast Cable in TV, wrote in a blog post.

Stream, he said, is "unlike anything we’ve ever offered: no extra device or additional equipment required…or even a TV. "

So Comcast is going after chord cutters, but there's a big catch: you do need to have Comcast Internet to get it. The move makes sense from Comcast's point of view given that, as of May, it had more Internet customers than cable customers for the first time ever. The company obviously sees that side of the business as its future and wants to cater to those customers, as well as to draw new ones in with the promise of getting access to Stream. But that requirement does limit the number of people, as of right now, that can access its new service.

That requirement also separates it from the other streaming service offered by a major cable company, Sling TV from Dish.

For $20 a month it gives subscribers access to 12 different Disney and Turner channels, such as Disney Channel, ABC Family, Food Network, HGTV, Travel Channel, TNT, CNN, TBS, Cartoon Network and, most importantly, ESPN. It will also include best of online video with content from Maker Studios.

In April it became the first Internet TV service to offer HBO. That requires signing up for the “Best of Live TV” package, for an additional $15 a month, in order to get access to HBO. That includes one live channel, as well as its Video-On-Demand (VOD) content.

There are some caveats to Sling TV, though. First of all, there is no DVR component, meaning its only good for watching live television. Also, only person can use it at a time, rather than traditional cable where different boxes could tune into different channels.

Sling has been successful so far, with over 250,000 paying subscribers as of early June. Comcast has 23 million broadband subscribers who will now have access to Stream, meaning it could easily surpass Sling without much effort, especially given the fact that, with its DVR, Stream is more than simply streaming television on a different screen.

(Image source: corporate.comcast.com)