Comcast Corp. is introducing a $20-a-month streaming video package with more than 40 channels, as a cheaper TV service it will bundle with broadband to attract cord cutters.
Starting in the coming weeks, Comcast Xfinity customers can sign on to the Now TV service that offers live channels including A&E, AMC, Hallmark, as well as programs from Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. The programming array doesn’t include ESPN or other sports channels and requires no hardware, the company said.
As a low-cost alternative to cable TV, Now TV is designed to help Comcast appeal to some of the millions of pay-TV customers who have been fleeing the service annually. In the first quarter, Comcast lost 614,000 TV subscribers. The offering is similar to Sling TV, the online package Dish Network Corp. introduced in 2015 to stem losses of satellite TV customers. Sling starts at $40 a month before discounts, for access to channels like Fox, BBC and sports.
Peacock, Comcast’s streaming platform that has 22 million subscribers, is included at no extra cost in the Now TV package. Comcast said last week it would stop giving away Peacock to its cable customers and will start charging them later this year. Peacock is part of Comcast’s NBCUniversal division and is expected to lose $3 billion this year.
For Comcast, the US’s largest pay-TV provider, Now TV provides another piece to a bundle that includes broadband and mobile phone service. The package will give the company a way to help fight back against the broadband competition from wireless providers Verizon Communications Inc. and T-Mobile US Inc.
