The competition against Netflix to offer streaming video, television, and films over the internet for cheap-cheap-cheap has picked up lately, and now a new challenger approaches: Comcast.
The cable provider’s Netflix-knock-off goes by the handle “Xfinity Streampix”, and it will be available exclusively to Comcast customers. The price tag for the service? A paltry $5 per month. I know what you’re thinking. How could there be a better deal for this kind of service than Netflix’s $8 monthly price tag (and how do they make a profit, anyway)? Well, the answer is “Streampix” as the kids are likely to start calling it.
The lowered going-rate isn’t even the best part. Turns out, Streampix will be completely scot-free for some, but that’s going to depend on their current package (oh, that’s how they get ya). A short-list of samples from the announcement include: 30 Rock , Grey’s Anatomy , Ocean’s 11 , and Brokeback Mountain .
Since the service is only being offered to current Comcast subscribers, the company insists that its streaming program isn’t a move on the board aimed at putting Netflix in eventual checkmate, and really isn’t meant to be competitive at all. Rather, according to the Wall Street Journal , “it is nevertheless a shot across the bow of the upstart web streamer—threatening to take away some of its subscribers.”
For Netflix, the fight isn’t close to being over. The service boasts a much more comprehensive library, and a recent deal gave Netflix first dibs on all Weinstein Co. properties, which is a pretty dense collection. This is capitalism at its finest, kiddos: when companies turn the heat on each other and have to bend over backwards for you, the consumer, and offer you better service at cheaper prices. God, I love America!
Are you a Comcast or Netflix subscriber?
