Comcast, Charter team up on streaming platform to take on Roku and others
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Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) and Charter (NASDAQ:CHTR), the top two cablecos, are teaming up on a venture they hope can prevail over some well-established streaming hardware from Roku (ROKU) and Amazon.com (AMZN), not to mention Google (GOOG) (GOOGL) and Apple (AAPL).
The two cablecos have a 50/50 joint venture to develop and offer a "next-generation streaming platform" that will be based on Comcast's Flex approach - which, like Roku and Amazon Fire, already offers the most-watched streaming apps (including Comcast's Peacock, which will be a "featured" app).
Comcast will also contribute Xumo, the free ad-supported streaming service it acquired in 2020, as well as its retail business for XClass televisions, while Charter will make an "initial contribution" of $900 million over multiple years.
Flex will continue to be served to existing customers, while Charter will offer the 4K streaming TV devices and voice remotes beginning in 2023.
Notably, the broadband and cable video businesses of Comcast and Charter will remain independent.
Nielsen's latest look at share of television usage shows streaming bumping up to a new high with nearly 30% of usage.