DailyTech - Comcast Broadens Online Portfolio, Adding HBO, Cinemax

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Internet Comcast Broadens Online Portfolio, Adding HBO, Cinemax
Michael Barkoviak - July 14, 2009 6:09 AM

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10 comment(s) - last by theapparition.. on Jul 14 at 5:27 PM

Comcast continues to add to its online portals

Comcast subscribers now have the ability to watch popular HBO and Cinemax shows online for free, as the cable provider continues to try and broaden its online content catalog.

In the online trial, Comcast will offer new HBO and Cinemax content to 5,000 nationwide subscribers, and will open up the program later down the road. Along with episodes of “Sopranos” and “The Wire,” qualified subscribers will also be able to watch movies such as “The Dark Knight” and “Kung Fu Panda.”

Furthermore, Comcast also has On Demand channels for TNT and TBS, and is working with other companies, including rivals, to bring additional content to its custom service.

Comcast and Time Warner are relying heavily on TV Everywhere and On Demand Online services, which offer subscribers the ability to watch content online. Comcast offers both free and paid content through its On Demand service, and even has FEARnet, a custom On Demand channel offering horror movies.

Interested subscribers can now visit Comcast.net or Fancast.com to view content available, learn more about the sites, and watch content. Both services have authentication to help ensure a user is a subscriber and they have the channel they are trying to access online.

The cable industry has seen its lucrative cash cow slowly fade as sites such as Hulu.com and other video sharing sites increase in popularity. Offering their own content on a custom website helps point subscribers towards their own site in which they can receive advertising revenue.

In addition to increased competition, there also is a growing worry regarding online piracy of TV shows and movies – offering content online

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Wait broadband...

By tdktank59 on 7/14/2009 7:01:39 AM , Rating: 2

So let me get this straight... They are now putting services into place (free from the sounds of it...) that use our network connection... Most likely through them...

Last I checked we had a bandwidth cap... Maybe this smells some change...

Also last I checked areas that are oversubscribed will have horrible viewing experiences...

RE: Wait broadband...

By Lord 666 on 7/14/2009 8:02:05 AM , Rating: 2

Comcast is developing a fiber to premise product of their own (think its called Xcelerate, just saw their CIO speak) and testing it. Wouldn't be surprised if this online ondemand and the fiber product were the same market. They have to build the business model first to prevent customers from jumping ship. What they should do it waive the quota when accessing these sites.

I didn't officially jump ship yet, but did order FIOS for late July install as part of a move. After being on the phone for 30 minutes being nickel and dimed and having to switch telephone numbers, debating about cancelling the install. The grass is NOT greener on the other side. Forgot how I hate dealing with Verizon and its starting to make Comcast look like the good guys.

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RE: Wait broadband...

By theapparition on 7/14/2009 11:57:31 AM , Rating: 2

Don't know why you have to change phone numbers, that was never a requirement when I had it installed.

Verizon is not the most pleasant company to work with, so I understand that.

Here's where the difference comes in with Comcast. I don't have to call Verizon...ever. With Comcast, something was always going wrong. Service outages, bad equipment, signal problems, internet going down, picture quality, etc.
FIOS just works. Never a service interruption in 2.5 years! Not one.
Same DVR (Comsast DVR was replaced 5 times). Internet has been 100% reliable and fast. Faster by far than Comcast, especially uploads. And the picture quality is hands down superior. Virtually no pixelation that plagued Comcast's HD offerings. More channels, more HD channels, and they still keep the west feeds of channels. OnDemand is lightning quick browsing.
You just can't compare the difference in quality.

My major gripe with Comcast was prices though. Until FIOS, they were free to charge what they wanted and every 3 months they seemed to hit you with a rate increase. Verizon had never charged more, ever.

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RE: Wait broadband...

By Lord 666 on 7/14/2009 1:29:14 PM , Rating: 2

Thank you for the support on this and will follow your input.

1. It took two years for me to get Comcast reliable when I first moved in 2005. Then after moving to their triple play in 2008, it took until 3 months ago to get it stable enough after a new aerial was run. For my new house, its an older neighborhood and do not want to go through those issues again.

2. Verizon stated the number did not qualify to be moved, only moving two towns over. Plus, since the number is already on a SIP trunk within the Comcast world, even less of a reason why it can't be ported. Sold the change to my wife as the new number NXX is more desirable than our current one.

3. We are not big into TV, but hated how HD NFL looks so look forward to that.

Any improvements on Netflix streaming? Current latency of Comcast is around 15ms, heard its about 3ms on FIOS. Do you have to run their stock modem or is it a straight public IP handoff that I can connect an ASA5505 to?

Thanks again

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RE: Wait broadband...

By theapparition on 7/14/2009 5:27:01 PM , Rating: 2

Ah, I see why they gave you a new number, and you may be surprised but it may not be Verizon's issue.

I know you are an expert technically with VoIP, but may not be familiar with all the legal issues. VoIP is much cheaper because a lot of government regulation and taxes aren't in effect. Telecom laws specifically exclude VoIP as well, including recent number portability laws. I ran across this when looking at Vonage and other VoIP solutions a while ago and in thier fine print it stated something to the effect of "when you port your POTS line to VoIP, the phone number is no longer under telecommunication domain and might not be released back to customer". Basically, it says, once you switch to VoIP, you might not get your same number if you try to switch services.

Verizon's phone service is not VoIP, so any SIP stack, whether local or remote becomes moot. It just won't use it because it's not VoIP. Personally, I like it better because it's more reliable, doesn't die with an internet issue, no GPS issues, etc. It does require a battery backup installed (Verizon provided) that provides optical transceiver power and dialtone in the event of a power failure.

Netflix steams seamlessly. I've never checked the latency but it is noticeably better.
You'll have to run thier stock modem. Not only does it provide internet capability and wireless (b/g), but it also connects to all the set-top boxes in the house and controls that home network. That's how you can stream from the DVR to another box, pictures/video from you computer to TV, and also program your boxes to record from the internet and your phone.

My only recommendation is to change the encryption they provide. They set it up with WEP.

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RE: Wait broadband...

By HrilL on 7/14/2009 12:49:04 PM , Rating: 2

waiving the quota to access their sites would spell Anti-competitive practices louder then ever. Remember they are trying to claim network congestion is the reason for the quota. If the waived it for their services then that would make me believe the quota has nothing to do with network congestion which is probably the case anyway. If their isn't bandwidth for other services then their isn't bandwidth for theirs either.

They'll keep the cap off these services with HD and then get you with overages. I can see it now. Free is never free with companies like these.

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Oh yeah, baby!

By SunAngel on 7/14/2009 6:40:52 AM , Rating: 2

Included with cable subscription! No need to buy StarsOnDemand for 6.95/month now. May not need to keep my Netflix subscription. Definitely, no need to rip their DVDs anymore (wink wink).

RE: Oh yeah, baby!

By ratbert1 on 7/14/2009 6:59:40 AM , Rating: 2

They need something. The free movie offerings from their on demand service are "B" flix and few of them. There are only some select TV serials and just a few episodes of each. And FEARnet should be called FARCEnet, it is so bogus.

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RE: Oh yeah, baby!

By UNHchabo on 7/14/2009 1:00:19 PM , Rating: 2

Yeah, but I've had more fun watching the B Movies that Comcast offers in the Free On Demand section than I would watching some crap that takes itself too seriously! :)

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