Comcast streaming video in Netflix challenge | Bangkok Post: tech

US entertainment and cable giant Comcast announced plans Tuesday to launch a streaming video service for movies and television shows in a challenge to market pioneer Netflix.

US entertainment and cable giant Comcast announced plans Tuesday to launch a streaming video service for movies and television shows in a challenge to market pioneer Netflix.

Netflix, meanwhile, said it had signed a multi-year licensing agreement with the Weinstein Company that will give it exclusive rights to the Oscar-nominated "The Artist" and other foreign movies.

Comcast said its new subscription video service, Xfinity Streampix, will launch on Thursday and will be available to subscribers only.

"This new service complements the 75,000 TV shows and movies currently available on Xfinity On Demand, XfinityTV.com and through the Xfinity TV app," Comcast said.

"In the coming year, our plan is to significantly increase the number of TV shows and movies available through Streampix, as well as, to bring the service to additional devices like the Xbox 360 and Android-powered devices," said Comcast Video Services general manager Marcien Jenckes.

Comcast, which has more than 22 million video subscribers, said it had reached licensing agreements with Disney-ABC Television Group, NBCUniversal, Sony Pictures, Warner Bros. and others.

Among the TV shows which will be available are "30 Rock," "Grey's Anatomy," "Lost" and "The Office" while movies will include "Brokeback Mountain," "Ocean's Eleven," "When Harry Met Sally" and "The Big Lebowski."

Comcast said Streampix will be included in some of its bundled packages for customers and available separately for $4.99 a month for video subscribers.

Comcast's move to boost its streaming video lineup comes less than three weeks after US telecom giant Verizon and Coinstar, which operates Redbox movie rental kiosks, announced their own video service to challenge Netflix.

Verizon and Coinstar said they had formed a joint venture that will add an online streaming option to the 35,400 Redbox self-service vending machines located in grocery stores, McDonald's restaurants and other sites.

The Los Gatos, California-based Netflix, which offers online streaming and DVD delivery by mail, had 24.4 million US subscribers at the end of December, up from 23.8 million at the end of the previous quarter.

Netflix said its deal with The Weinstein Company gives it exclusive access to foreign language films, documentaries and certain movies.

Among the foreign films that will appear exclusively on Netflix within a year of their theatrical release are "Sarah's Key," "The Intouchables" and "Coriolanus," it said.

Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.