Comcast (Photo : Reuters)
When Comcast announced that it is investing in Vox Media, many industry analysts speculated that the company is planning to build its own online video service.
Recently, Comcast revealed that it will release a video service with contents coming from websites like Vice Media, The Onion and Vox Media. The new online service will be called Watchable.
According to Bloomberg, Comcast, currently the biggest cable company in the United States, has also signed a deal with the teen-oriented channel owned by DreamWorks Animation called AwesomenessTV. The report added that Comcast is still in negotiation with Internet-based new media company BuzzFeed.
Some of the companies are rumored to be under negotiations with Comcast to host their content, including The Onion, Vice, Vox, BuzzFeed and NBC Sports. Many industry analysts said that the new online video service from Comcast will rival the video service offered by YouTube and Facebook.
A source from Comcast told Business Insider, "Comcast is currently the largest seller of video ads in the United States. As platforms shift to digital, Comcast doesn't want to lose market share, but they're losing it to YouTube and Facebook."
On the same note, the company also aims to rival the rumored video platform from Verizon.
When released, watchable videos will be released on Comcast's Xfinity X1 box owners. On top of that, the service will be made available on the mobile platform such as iOS and Android.
Currently, Comcast has its own smart-TV service called Xfinity. The service allows subscribers to stream unlimited number of movies and TV shows on demand directly to their TV sets and mobile devices. The new online service will simply expand the content coverage of an already established cable platform.
