Key Points:
- Comcast’s StreamStore marketplace allows customers to start and manage subscriptions from a central location on their TVs.
- Subscriptions are billed to the same account as a customer’s Xfinity TV or Xfinity Internet service.
- Comcast is a Bango client, but it isn’t clear if StreamStore is connected to Bango’s Digital Vending Machine.
- The company will offer its StreamSaver bundle through StreamStore, which includes Netflix, Peacock and Apple TV Plus for $15 per month.
Comcast has launched a new streaming marketplace that aims to make it easier for its Xfinity TV and Xfinity Internet customers to buy access to third-party video apps, the company announced on Wednesday.
The platform, called StreamStore, is a centralized menu where Xfinity subscribers can start and stop memberships to premium streaming apps and rent thousands of films and TV episodes.
Comcast first teased its streaming marketplace last year; the company is pitching the new portal as a streamlined, all-in-one destination for entertainment that is backed by its broadband service and infrastructure.
“We believe that technology should work for you, not the other way around,” said Jon Gieselman, the Chief Growth Officer of Connectivity & Platforms at Comcast. “Xfinity StreamStore is taking the complexity out of finding the content you love and putting the power back in the hands of our customers. It’s an important advancement in harnessing tech to make the complicated easy and entertainment smarter, simpler, and more connected.”
Like other streaming marketplaces, StreamStore simplifies subscriptions by billing them on the same account as a customer’s Xfinity TV or Internet service. In that respect, it resembles subscription marketplaces powered by Bango’s Digital Vending Machine, which also integrates with similar platforms offered by Verizon and Altice U.S.
Comcast is a Bango client, but it wasn’t clear if StreamStore integrates with the Digital Vending Machine, as the company wasn’t mentioned in Comcast’s announcement on Wednesday.
In addition to single subscription purchases, StreamStore will point Comcast customers toward unique bundles — again, like the kind Bango’s Digital Vending Machine enables — including the company’s StreamSaver subscription, which pairs the ad-supported tiers of Netflix and Peacock together with Apple TV Plus for $15 per month.
Comcast says more features are coming later this year, including new bundling options and additional streaming partners. The company plans to debut a version of StreamStore through the Xfinity website at some point in the near future.
According to Comcast, streaming now represents more than 70 percent of all internet usage, a trend largely driven by live sports and premium video content. The company is emphasizing its broadband capabilities as a competitive advantage, citing its ability to support multi-gig speeds, ultra-low latency, and hundreds of simultaneous device connections within the home.
