Comcast is launching a live TV streaming service to rival Sling, FuboTV, YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV and everything in between. It’s called Now TV and it has something its competitors lack, an extremely attractive price. Now TV includes 60 live channels and a Peacock subscription for $20 a month.
There is a slight hiccup. Going forward, TV will only be available to Comcast Xfinity Internet customers and will work as an add-on to any pre-existing service plan. A simple Comcast cable plan costs $50 to $60 per month and doesn’t include internet, so it’s still a good deal.
The platform provides access to 40 premium cable channels including stars like AMC, Discovery, A&E, IFC, The History Channel, TLC, Lifetime and many more. It also comes with 20 hours of DVR storage and allows for three simultaneous streams. You also get 20 free, ad-supported TV channels (FAST), such as NBC News NOW, Sky News, and a host of genre-based channels. The service has some glaring omissions, however, as it doesn’t offer local TV or sports channels.
Of course, Now TV also includes a premium, albeit ad-supported, so you can watch the lair comedy Great crew and nearly 1,000 SNL episodes.
When the service launches in a few weeks, it will be accessible through the Xfinity Stream app and supported gadgets such as Xfinity flex, Amazon Fire TV, iOS devices, and Android devices. As for why Comcast would cut prices for competitors here, the company’s cable arm has been hit particularly hard by cable cutters, in the first quarter of 2023 alone.