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Comcast: Nobody Really Liked Our Netflix Wannabe Streampix

In February of 2012 Comcast unveiled Streampix, their effort at trying to prevent cord cutting by offering a Netflix-esque service of their own. Like most ISP run services however, Streampix was really just a substandard "me too" offering, as cable companies are always very afraid of offering an over the top offering that could cannibalize existing TV services. As such, Streampix was offered as a $5 add on or included for free if users bought more services.

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In recent months numerous users, including DSLReports regular Zoder See Profile, had been informing me that Comcast appeared to be giving up on the offering -- with the Streampix catalog getting increasingly sparse and promotion of the not-quite-Netflix clone becoming less common.

In the company's recent filing (pdf) supporting their Time Warner Cable merger, Comcast makes it pretty clear that consumers really weren't interested in Comcast's kind of feeble attempt to keep customers away from Netflix:
quote:
...Though Comcast sought to create excitement around Streampix by offering the online version through a unique online site and app, and offered Streampix to a small number of Xfinity broadband-only customers in one region, these attracted minimal interest: both the site and the app are being decommissioned, and the standalone offer was discontinued. Going forward, Streampix will simply be part of the Xfinity TV app and website like other VOD offerings.
Top Comcast lobbyist David Cohen stated this week the company "couldn't find a business case" for offering a real, standalone streaming video service. That's not particularly surprising when you've already got people paying $100 or more a month for massive bundles of largely unwatched channels. As such, offerings like Streampix tend to be more theatrical than useful. They're generally designed to look like they're innovative, disruptive and provide value -- quite often without actually doing so.
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ArrayList
DevOps
Premium Member
join:2005-03-19
Mullica Hill, NJ

ArrayList

Premium Member

tried it

it worked, but it was clunky and completely unnecessary. cancelled

FureverFurry
RIP Daphne: 3/12/05 - 6/19/12
Premium Member
join:2012-02-20
49xxx
Zoom 5341J
ARRIS WBM760
Vonage VDV-21

FureverFurry

Premium Member

Liked it for the reruns

I signed up for it when I saw Streampix had Law & Order (original), Law & Order: CI with about 9-10 seasons EACH of those shows. As I recall, they were good through something like 2015.

Heh: that surely did not prove to be true. Beyond that, I didn't like the other offerings but it was worth it to me for the L&O shows as well as a few NatGeo episodes.

(As far as their touted OnDemand: can they cram in more "reality" shows? Not my cup of tea.)
neufuse
join:2006-12-06
James Creek, PA

neufuse

Member

Locked...

Honestly, I don't think any Cable ran service will ever get to the levels of Netflix... for one, you are locked in the service by your cable company, you can't go somewhere else and buy access to it if you aren't one of their customers... Netflix is an open system available to everyone, so they will always have more publicity, more user base, wider audience, etc... Cable companies and cell phone companies try to make these services as a competitor, but they aren't able to get it done because they don't have the market coverage an independent company like Netflix would when you are locked into their system only.
devolved
join:2012-07-11
Rapid City, SD

devolved

Member

Re: Locked...

Kind of like the Time-Warner Roku app. It's useless if you're not a customer of TW.
b10010011
Whats a Posting tag?
join:2004-09-07
united state

b10010011

Member

Streampix? This is the first I have heard of it.

Been with the Comcast monopoly for well over a decade at my current home.

Oh well, sounds like it sucked anyway.

newview
Ex .. Ex .. Exactly
Premium Member
join:2001-10-01
Parsonsburg, MD

newview

Premium Member

Comcast sees only what they want to see

No doubt Comcast will point to the failure of this so-so POS service as evidence that there are no such things as cordcutters and there is no market for subscription streaming video service ... Netflix evidence notwithstanding.
BiggA
Premium Member
join:2005-11-23
Central CT

BiggA

Premium Member

Re: Comcast sees only what they want to see

Most Netflix subs also have cable.

newview
Ex .. Ex .. Exactly
Premium Member
join:2001-10-01
Parsonsburg, MD

newview

Premium Member

Re: Comcast sees only what they want to see

said by BiggA:

Most Netflix subs also have cable.

Cord Cutters Grew 44% Last Four Years
quote:
If cord cutters continue their rate of growth we will see about a additional 1 million new cord cutters each year
Cord-cutter wannabes are still a small group, but growing
quote:
A June study by Frank N. Magid Associates found that just 2.9 percent of US pay-TV consumers are "very likely" to cancel their service in the year ahead. But that's up from 2.7 percent last year and 2.2 percent two years earlier. The Magid data also show young consumers -- people 25 to 34 years old -- are more likely to want to drop their pay-TV package, at 4.9 percent.
BiggA
Premium Member
join:2005-11-23
Central CT
·Frontier FiberOp..
Asus RT-AC68

BiggA

Premium Member

Re: Comcast sees only what they want to see

It's an edge phenomenon- eventually the cord cutting "market" so to speak will saturate. It's mostly people who barely watch TV in the first place, so it makes sense for them to cut the cord. Sports and HBO keep people well tied to cable, even if we're at the point where there's almost nothing else other than sports worth watching between the local channels and HBO.
Zoder
join:2002-04-16
Miami, FL

Zoder

Member

Half-baked

Streampix was always a half-baked idea. They could have leveraged their relationships with the studios and networks to offer a great catalog as a value added service but I think they were afraid of cannibalizing their PPV rental revenue if they made it too enticing.
Mr Matt
join:2008-01-29
Eustis, FL

Mr Matt

Member

Another cable price increase by charging for what was an included service.

When VOD was introduced, what is now Streampix was a feature of VOD. The 2012 price list for Central Florida did not include a separate charge for the service Comcast eventually called Streampix. During the year 2012 Comcast subscribers were notified that to continue the extended movie library, customers would have to subscribe to the new unservice offering Streampix. That way Comcast could gouge customers an additional $4.99 + Crap charges per month for a service they were already receiving This unbundling of a service and then renaming it was another stealth price increase. Down on the farm you couldn't keep the pigs away from the trough.

fiosultimate
join:2014-06-09
San Antonio, TX

fiosultimate

Member

monopoly


Titus
Mr Gradenko
join:2004-06-26

Titus

Member

Re: monopoly

I don't know %u2026 the Honey-Boo Boo marathon was tits.
elister
join:2006-07-17
Seattle, WA

elister

Member

Never used it...

Its been on my account for a while, I keep asking them to remove it, but they bundle it into some SKEW that gives me a discount, so I kinda have no choice but to leave it there.

If it wont stream off my Raspberry Pi with XBMC, I see no reason to use it.

Yucca Servic
join:2012-11-27
Rio Rancho, NM

Yucca Servic

Member

Cordcutters

Cordcutters are real and leaving Comcast in droves. RWSI is capturing the cordcutter market and Comcast just needs to keep doing business in the same manor and we will continue to reap the benefits.
floydb1982
join:2004-08-25
Kent, WA

floydb1982

Member

Hope they don't get rid of it

It would be sad to see it go. I use it just as much as I watch TV on days I don't go to work. It's very convenient to me because I don't have to log on to my computer or hook up an extra device to my HDTV.
rick0204
join:2009-05-20
North Bergen, NJ

rick0204

Member

Movie Pak

The Cablevision version is called Movie Pak. I have it free until the end of the year but rarely watch it. It is impossible to find new additions and just the HD content.

Flyonthewal
@206.248.154.x

Flyonthewal

Anon

If I offered a lemon

To replace a Cadillac, even though the customer may want a Volkswagen instead, I doubt I'd have any takers either.

This is a clear case of them using their statistics to prove their case, but being completely disingenuous about what they were offering when compared directly to Netflix. Of course if they bothered to offer something similar to Netflix as a stand alone offering they'd probably have people taking them up on it, but they don't want that, not really, so made it crappy so no one would take it up and then point at it and state, 'look, see, no one wants streaming options.'

That kind of lie should make them as nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.

telcodad
MVM
join:2011-09-16
Lincroft, NJ

telcodad

MVM

Verizon not faring much better with their Redbox Instant service

From:
Comcast Turns Off Streampix
By Mari Silbey, Light Reading - September 26, 2014
»www.lightreading.com/vid ··· /711098?
quote:
The cable giant may not be alone either. Verizon Communications Inc. hasn't released numbers on its Redbox Instant by Verizon streaming service, but there are indications that subscriber numbers are low. In May, The Wall Street Journal suggested that Verizon not only hasn't been successful in its joint venture with Redbox, but also that the company has no clear strategy for righting that particular ship. (See “Redbox Falls Flat in Streaming Space”: »www.lightreading.com/vid ··· d/709207)
telcodad

telcodad

MVM

Re: Verizon not faring much better with their Redbox Instant service

An article on the Light Reading site today:

Is Redbox Instant Shutting Down?
By Mari Silbey, Lifgt Reading - September 30, 2014
»www.lightreading.com/vid ··· d/711146
quote:
Redbox Instant by Verizon may be rapidly approaching its end.

In a new GigaOM report, Janko Roettgers presents a compelling series of data points suggesting the over-the-top video service is on its way out. First, Redbox Instant isn't signing up any new customers. Thanks to a credit card fraud issue, the company has halted all new customer registrations "to make sure that criminals are not misusing our system to hurt innocent third parties." (It appears no current customer information has been compromised.)

That news wouldn't sound so dire, except that apparently the gates have been closed for three months already. And subscriber numbers weren't so hot even before the shutdown.

Second, a Reddit user posted a rumor recently that Redbox Instant would be turned off entirely as of October 1. Roettgers asked for details from the company, but received only a curt "no comment." Light Reading also reached out to Verizon Communications Inc, but is still waiting for a response.
telcodad

telcodad

MVM

Streampix still lives (for now)

It looks like Streampix will still be limping along (in one form or another) for a while longer:

Comcast Shifts ‘Streampix’ Strategy
Being Folded Into Xfinity TV Go App, But Will Still Be Sold A La Carte To Some

By Jeff Baumgartner, Multichannel News - September 29, 2014
»www.multichannel.com/new ··· y/384276
quote:
Comcast’s Netflix-like “Streampix” service will carry on, but the MSO is making big changes to the way it will sell and market the multiscreen subscription VOD service to its customer base.

Comcast confirmed that it is decommissioning its Streampix mobile apps and the Streampix Web site, and will stop selling Streampix to broadband-only customers. However, the Streampix service will continue to be sold as an a la carte option, or given away as a perk to customers who take certain bundled service packages.
:
"... both the site and the app are being decommissioned, and the standalone offer was discontinued. Going forward, Streampix will simply be part of the Xfinity TV app and website like other VOD offerings,” the MSO said.

Similar language now shows up on the Streampix Apple App Store and Google Play pages: “Streampix has moved to XFINITY TV Go. Comcast customers with Streampix should download XFINITY TV Go to view Streampix content.”