There is a new option in Comcast Labs that changes the ondemand episode guide for a series.

If you turn on the beta, each episode now shows a scene from the episode and you can sort the list to show all ondemand episodes or only episodes that are included in your package.

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Comcast Business today announced the company’s award-winning X1 video platform is now available to the millions of bars, restaurants, hotels, gyms and other businesses across Comcast’s footprint. X1 for Business includes easier search and navigation, voice control and a picture-in-picture, sports content companion called the X1 Sports App that includes team and players profiles, statistics and real-time, game-specific data.

The launch of X1 for Business arrives just in time for the NCAA Basketball Tournament, one of the most profitable times of the year for sports bars and restaurants when fans want to watch multiple games at once and be among friends and co-workers. According to the American Gaming Association, 70 million college basketball brackets are filled out annually and last year, first-round coverage averaged 8.6 million television viewers, up from 8.2 million in 2017.

“Businesses across the country can now offer their customers the same award-winning video experience that millions of people experience everyday in their living room,” said Christian Nascimento, Vice President Product and Premise Services, Comcast Business. “X1 for Business is a game-changer – whether it’s a bar or restaurant integrating sports stats into the viewing experience, a hotel or gym giving customers an easier way to find what they want to watch or a small business helping their guests pass the time in the lobby or waiting room.”

Today, about two-thirds of Comcast’s residential customers have X1. X1 for Business will offer businesses and their customers:

• Voice Control: Businesses can use the X1 Voice Remote to quickly search for networks, shows and movies, change the channel, get recommendations, navigate content and more. There are more than 24 million residential voice remotes deployed and there were 8 billion voice searches last year alone.

• On-Screen Guide: The easy to use on-screen guide and search functionality allows employees to focus on serving customers, and not searching for programming. A view of the last nine channels makes accessing popular and most-watched content easier than ever.

• Sports Content: Provide customers with up to the minutes sports updates. The X1 Sports app brings real-time scores and statistics to sports like baseball, football, basketball and NASCAR, alongside thein-game action

• Accessibility: The X1 talking guide is the industry’s first and only voice-enabled television user interface that reads aloud selections like program titles, network and time slots, serving as a solution for TV fans who have a visual disability.

• Language of Choice: Bicultural customers can quickly change the guide and channel listings from English to Spanish and find Spanish-language and SAP-enabled programming through advanced filtering directly within the experience.
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X1 for Business is now available to businesses across Comcast’s footprint. Customers from across industries will begin upgrading their service to enhance experiences such as: in-room, voice-controlled TV watching in hotels; real-time sports stats and content at workout stations in gyms; and intuitive, easy-to-navigate channel options while at the office.
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To learn more about X1 for Business and Comcast Business’s Business TV solutions, please visit: »business.comcast.com/learn/tv

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I am still hoping this will start working with The CW and other networks too like AMC and so on in the near future.

Ok but that still has a risk of becoming a permanent feature and not allow us to turn it off, right?

Remind me, is there a way to turn this off?

Haven't seen this mentioned.

»www.soundandvision.com/c ··· y-x1-box

Zone-tv's XiveTV and Quark are now available via subscription-based XoD on the X1 platform for $4.99 per month each:

Zone·tv™ Brings SVODs XiveTV and Quark to Xfinity X1
Zone·tv press release, Business Wire - April 16, 2018
»www.businesswire.com/new ··· inity-X1

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Zone·tv™ today announced that Pro Guitar Lessons TV and Stephen’s Drum Shed, two online subscription video on demand services (SVODs) featuring cost-effective lessons from top professional guitar and drum instructors, are now available on Comcast’s X1 platform. X1 customers can find the services by saying “Pro Guitar Lessons TV” and “Stephen’s Drum Shed” into their X1 voice remote or by finding them within the networks section of Xfinity On Demand. Each of the services cost $4.99 a month and can be added to a customer’s subscription directly from X1.

“The great Xfinity X1 line-up of SVODs from zone·tv continues to grow with these two music instructional channels,” said Jeff Weber, CEO, zone·tv. “Xfinity X1 customers who are music lovers can follow music lessons from the pros to learn or sharpen their skills, without ever having to leave the comforts of home or pay for costly in person music lessons.”

Pro Guitar Lessons TV features some of the top instructors as seen in Guitar World, Guitar Player and Bass Player magazines. Viewers of all ages can learn chords, scales, songs, as well as how to get gigs, change strings and more, right in front of the TV. ...

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Comcast Business today announced the launch of X1 for Hospitality »business.comcast.com/ent ··· pitality , a program that brings the unique features and personalization of the award-winning, video platform to hotel guests. Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia at Comcast Center, located in the heart of Center City, Philadelphia, will include X1 in each of its 219 guest rooms when it opens this winter.

“Four Seasons guests seek exceptional quality at every turn, and technology and entertainment are an important part of their experience with us,” said Ben Shank, general manager of Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia at Comcast Center. “Today’s luxury travelers want customized, personal experiences with fantastic and intuitive amenities. X1 is simple and user-friendly allowing guests to navigate and discover the programs they want to watch. With the voice remote, finding a channel, show or movie is now as easy as the click of a button and a simple voice command. We believe X1 will help elevate our guests’ in-room experience and create a truly world-class visit.”
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"Comcast has the potential to disrupt the $3 billion United States business TV market with X1 for Hospitality," said Greg Ireland, multiscreen video analyst at IDC. "Products and solutions that have generated excellent results on the residential side can help businesses, particularly in the hospitality industry, gain an edge in attracting new and returning consumers."

The X1 product that will be featured at the Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia at Comcast Center will include:

• Loads of Content: Approximately 300 channel options and a free library of over 50,000 TV shows and movies On Demand.

• Voice Control: Guests can use the X1 Voice Remote to search for networks, shows and movies, set DVR recordings, change the channel, get recommendations, navigate On Demand content and more. Residential X1 customers used the voice remote more than 1.5 billion times in the first three months of 2018 alone.

• Recordings: A two-tuner DVR, allowing guests to record their favorite programming while watching something else or save to be viewed at their convenience when they return to their rooms.

• Multicultural: X1 is available with Spanish screens and menus and the X1 Voice Remote understands Spanish commands. The platform also includes curated content collections like Black Film & TV, International, and LGBTQ.

• Accessibility: Guests can say “accessibility” into the X1 Voice Remote or tap the “B” key to get to a menu with all of X1’s accessibility options. Guests can also quickly jump into specific features by saying “captions,” “description,” “SAP,” “voice guidance” or “shows with description” to find any programs that are described.

• Branded Channels: Hotels are able to include important promotional and informational content designed to inform and entice guests.

• Award-Winning: Comcast won an Emmy Award for Technology and Engineering – the award specifically honors the work of the technology teams that develop the Xfinity X1 Voice Remote and the innovative software platform that powers it. And the company won the prestigious Red Dot Design Award, which each year recognizes products from around the world that exemplify “outstanding design.”

“X1 has changed the game for millions of people when it comes to watching television and now hotels can bring that same experience to their guests,” said Denice Hasty, Chief Marketing Officer, Comcast Business. “Few brands know more about the importance of experience than the Four Seasons and we look forward to making their Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia at Comcast Center a premier destination with the very best technology and amenities, all tuned to the unique needs of their guests.” ...

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Equestrian-lifestyle network Ride TV will launch as a subscription video-on-demand channel on Comcast's Xfinity X1 platform this summer, the channel said. It will be available for $4.99 per month, the Fort Worth, Texas-based channel said in a release.

Network CEO Michael Fletcher said in the release: “I wish to personally thank the leadership of Comcast for launching our service. By supporting independent networks like Ride TV and making them available via the Xfinity X1, it is evident Comcast is committed to giving customers more choice when it comes to enjoying the programming that’s most important to them." ...

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Comcast today announced a new partnership with Tile that will enable Xfinity customers to use their Xfinity X1 Voice Remote to locate Tile devices anywhere and see the results of their search on the television. This is the first video and voice control partnership of its kind for Tile and is another step in Comcast’s effort to make home automation simple and easy for millions of customers.

According to a survey from Esure Home Insurance, the average person spends more than 60 hours a year looking for misplaced items. Tile is the world’s best-selling Bluetooth tracker, helping users locate over three million items every day, including cars, backpacks, suitcases, keys, and wallets.

“This is a home automation partnership that helps solve real-life problems,” said Sri Solur, Senior Vice President, Comcast Cable. “Now, when a child arrives home from school, a parent can simply say, ‘Xfinity Home where’s Sam’s backpack?’ into their voice remote and see that it was left at school. This is just one of the many peace of mind features we are making available to our customers on our evolving home automation platform.”

Simple and easy-to-use, Tile Bluetooth trackers can be attached to any item. If the item is misplaced, lost or stolen, X1 customers can say, “Xfinity Home where are my keys?”, “Xfinity Home find my purse”, or “Xfinity Home locate Sam’s backpack” to display the last known location and address of the missing Tile on their TV screen.
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At launch, only Xfinity Home customers with the X1 voice remote can easily add their Tiles by downloading the Xfinity Home app (iOS or Android) and following the prompts in the mobile app. Later this year, Comcast and Tile plan to expand eligibility to all Xfinity Internet customers as well. ...

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Zone·tv, the largest provider of SVOD programming to service providers, today announces Quark and XiveTV, two online subscription video-on-demand services, are now available via Xfinity on Demand on Comcast’s X1 platform. X1 customers can find the services by saying “Quark” and “XiveTV” into their X1 voice remote or by navigating to them in the networks section of Xfinity On Demand. Quark and XiveTV have been developed with Alliant Content, a leading independent programmer of long-form factual film and television shows across digital platforms.

“We are thrilled to bring Quark and XiveTV to Xfinity X1 and to build on a great partnership that enables Comcast customers to enjoy and discover some of the best content on the planet from the best screen in the house: their television,” said Jeff Weber, CEO, zone·tv.

“Zone·tv and Alliant Content’s collaboration lets eternally curious viewers explore the universe - from African wildlife to space - as well as the impacts of history and technology through programming that is truly smart, entertaining and vivid,” said Greg Diefenbach, Managing Director for Alliant Content.

Quark’s ever-growing collection of high-quality programs covers the latest advances in science, technology and space exploration, while XiveTV boasts one of the largest collections of award-winning long-form documentary content to be found anywhere, spanning topics such as wildlife, history, adventure, and the paranormal.
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Quark and XiveTV cost $4.99 a month each. Other zone·tv SVODS available to Comcast customers on X1 include the fitness-focused FitFusion TV; kid-friendly PlayKids and Tumblebooks; and most recently, the nature-focused Lion Mountain TV. ...

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The British — and others — are coming to Comcast. Acorn TV, a subscription video-on-demand service specializing in U.K. and international television, is now available to the cable giant’s Xfinity TV customers nationwide.

It’s the first pay-TV distribution deal for RLJ Entertainment’s Acorn TV, which offers a lineup of mysteries, dramas, and comedies previously unavailable to U.S. audiences. The advertising-free SVOD service is available to Comcast subs for $4.99 monthly.

“The addition of Acorn TV and its curated collection of standout international television provides even more choice to our Xfinity TV customers, giving them another way to watch their favorite series or discover new and classic programs,” said Michael Imbesi, Comcast Cable’s VP of movies and pay-per-view programming.

Acorn TV’s originals include BBC comedy “Detectorists”; the new ITV drama “Girlfriends”; and Irish drama “Striking Out.” Exclusive content includes new seasons of Aussie period drama “A Place to Call Home”; Brit drama “Delicious,” centered on food, love and betrayal; Aussie medical dramedy “The Heart Guy”; and Australian dramedy “800 Words.” The service also offers long-running mystery series “Midsomer Murders,” “George Gentlyand,” “Murdoch Mysteries,” “The Brokenwood Mysteries,” and “Jack Irish,” a noir thriller starring Guy Pearce.

Acorn TV’s May programming lineup includes two original series: BBC Wales thriller “Keeping Faith” and Aussie family comedy “Sando.” Acorn TV will feature 10 originals in 2018, with plans to add more than 30 licensed international titles. ...

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Comcast has added some enhancements to the Sports app on its X1 platform for set-top boxes as March Madness gets underway.

Among the enhancements that tie into the men’s college basketball tournament, the app features a special tile that displays the top-seeded teams in each region, a schedule of dates for each round, and access to previous results.

X1 subs can also use the app to track a regional bracket or zoom out for a look at the full tournament.

Those customers can also pull up the bracket by uttering, “Show me the bracket,” or the fuller March Madness experience on the platform by saying “NCAA Tournament” into the X1 voice remote. Comcast has also set up other voice commands that can display “knowledge cards” with team stats and comparisons if they say, for example, “Georgia State basketball.”

Comcast is also letting X1 subs restart all tournament games airing on TBS, TNT and truTV that are in progress via its Instant on Demand system. ...

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Adding another OTT option to the mix, Comcast will soon start to offer content from National Public Radio on its X1 set-top box platform.

Comcast, in the "coming weeks," plans to offer a TV-optimized version of the NPR One app, along with its mix of local and national news and podcasts, to X1 customers. About 60% of Comcast’s 21.3 million residential video subs are on X1.

The app via X1 will be available for free, though users have the option to login and create accounts (also free) that can personalize the experience.

As part of the integration, customers can use the X1 voice remote to launch the NPR One app (by saying “NPR” or “NPR One”), and NPR content will also be searchable and integrated with the X1 VOD menus, appearing along with other related content. Comcast said customers can also access content from their local NPR Member Station via the NPR One app on X1.

Further out, X1 customers will also be able to find specific NPR programs or podcasts by name or topic by saying, for example, “Show me Ask Me Another on NPR One.”

NPR One will be streamed over the internet to X1 boxes, making that content subject to Comcast’s internet data usage policies. ...

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There is a new Shazam type functionality tied into the Voice Remote. During any show, movie, commercial, etc when a song is playing say "what song is this" and it can pull it for you. Even on Recorded clips.

Also you can say the exact length requested on FF/Rew, i.e. "rewind 2 minutes, 10 seconds" and it takes you exactly to that point

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Pandora, the largest streaming music provider in the U.S., and Comcast, a global media and technology company, today announced a completely reinvented streaming music experience on Xfinity X1 with a deeper Pandora integration. In addition to an entirely new look and feel, customers will enjoy access to Pandora’s on-demand Premium and ad-free radio Plus subscriptions over the Internet on X1 for the first time. Pandora’s integration with the X1 Voice Remote provides effortless access to music across all levels of service. The new Pandora experience also makes it easier than ever for customers to access and discover personalized music alongside the live, on-demand, DVR and web programming included in Xfinity TV.

“We’re seeing explosive growth in listening through in-home devices like X1, and we’re proud to be one of Comcast’s premier online music streaming partners,” said Chris Phillips, Chief Product Officer, Pandora. “Pandora continues to harness the power of X1 in new and innovative ways from voice-activation to easy, intuitive access to music throughout the platform, bringing music to the forefront of your in-home entertainment experience like never before.”

The new Pandora integration on X1 brings customers:

• Ability to choose the level of service that fits their needs. Pandora Premium allows consumers to search and play any song, album, playlist or station; Pandora Plus provides access to ad-free radio stations with additional skips and replays; Pandora’s free service enables access to personalized stations.

• Quick access to their favorite music simply by saying, “Pandora” into the X1 voice remote.

• Access to specific songs, albums or playlists with simple commands like “play ‘Santa’s Coming for Us’ by Sia on Pandora.”

• Immediate Pandora playback through a simplified sign-in experience.

• Pandora integrated with search and surfaced throughout Xfinity On Demand, including within popular destinations such as music, kids and Latino and on select artist profile pages.

“We are constantly improving the in-home entertainment experience by integrating new features and services into Xfinity X1,” said Chris Satchell, Executive Vice President, Chief Product Officer, Comcast Cable. “Our customers love the ability to play music through their television, which often have the best speakers in the house, and we are thrilled to expand our partnership with Pandora and provide Xfinity TV customers with seamless access to Pandora’s full suite of online features on X1.” ...

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Comcast and iHeartMedia today announced a partnership that will make iHeartRadio, the free all-in-one digital music, podcasting and live streaming radio service, available on Xfinity X1, giving people a new way to enjoy more than 1,000 radio stations from across the country – directly on their TV – with custom artist radio stations, playlists, podcasts and more iHeartRadio favorites coming soon. According to Nielsen, nearly half of all music listening (44%) happens in the home.

Beginning today and rolling out to capable X1 set-top boxes in the coming weeks, customers of both services will be able to use their voice remote to launch iHeartRadio or browse and select stations integrated throughout related sections of Xfinity On Demand.

“We are excited to team up with Comcast to bring iHeartMedia’s massive catalog of live radio stations to the highly innovate Xfinity X1 platform,” said Michele Laven, President of Strategic Partnerships Group for iHeartMedia. “We will continue to push boundaries and explore new opportunities for consumers to interact with the iHeartRadio brand. Our goal is to ensure that the music and trusted personalities our listeners love are seamlessly available whenever and wherever they are, across the products and services they use most. The new iHeartRadio X1 integration is a perfect addition to our platform offerings that we know listeners will love.”

Following the initial roll out, iHeartRadio will continue to expand the music offering available on X1, including iHeartRadio’s curated playlists, custom artist radio stations, podcasts, as well as the ability to call up a specific station or DJ directly with the voice remote. Specifically, customers will be able to:

• Listen to their favorite radio stations by saying “Listen to iHeartRadio” into the voice remote, or by navigating to the iHeartRadio app located in the apps section of X1. Future phases of the app will include the ability to search and access popular stations and DJs by saying voice commands like, “New York’s Z100 on iHeartRadio,” “Chicago’s 103.5 KISS FM on iHeartRadio,” or “Listen to Elvis Duran on iHeartRadio.”

• Explore and listen to curated playlists and individual stations integrated throughout the Xfinity On Demand menu. For example, during the week of the Country Music Awards, customers might find featured country music stations within the music section of Xfinity On Demand.

• Find and keep a list of favorites, including their hometown station, for quick access. X1 customers can listen to all of iHeartRadio’s live radio stations without any signup, but users can also sign-in to their iHeartRadio account to access their personalized listening experience.

“Music continues to be an important part of the X1 in-home entertainment experience, and we are providing X1 customers with even more choice in how, when and where they enjoy it,” said Nancy Spears, Vice President, Digital Media Distribution and Monetization, Comcast Cable. “Whether they are looking for background music or want to entertain a crowd, the addition of iHeartRadio to X1 will add even more value to their Xfinity TV subscription, and continue to differentiate X1 as the go-to destination in the home for accessing all of their favorite content in one place.” ...

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iHeartRadio content will be delivered to X1 boxes via public internet connections, so that data will be subject to Comcast’s usage-based broadband policy.

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Knowing how everything is a money grab, I wouldn't be surprised if Comcast wants to charge for each vote.

hmm, woulda been cool if they could do the same thing with American Idol.

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Comcast and NBC today announced Xfinity X1 customers will be able to use their voice remote to cast votes for their favorite artist on four-time Emmy Award-winning musical competition series The Voice, directly on the TV. Available today on X1 as the live shows begin, the collaboration marks a first for the industry by giving viewers a new way to vote for their favorite artists – in real time – right from the TV they are watching it on.

"We look forward to amplifying the excitement of the live shows even more by giving fans of watching The Voice on X1 a new way to interact with the show this season," said Daniel Spinosa, Vice President, Entertainment Services for Comcast Cable. "We believe X1 offers customers the best in-home entertainment experience, and this is another great example of how we are partnering with networks to leverage the platform to create new interactive experiences."

"The Voice has always been a show that leverages the digital space, and each season we continue to innovate on ways to engage fans across platforms," said Rob Hayes, Executive Vice President, Digital at NBC Entertainment. "The X1 partnership, which gives audiences a seamless interactive viewing experience, is a natural extension of The Voice's brand as one of the most social shows on television."

Xfinity X1 is currently the only partner of NBC's The Voice to offer a voting option on the TV. Using their X1 voice remote, fans watching The Voice on X1 can access their on-screen ballot by saying, "Vote for The Voice," or by pressing the info button on the remote. A panel on the right side of the TV screen will appear that categorizes the artists by team, enabling users to quickly and easily browse and vote for their favorite performers. Viewers can cast one vote per artist on the X1 platform during the live broadcast and up until one hour after its conclusion. ...

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Linear TV isn’t dead, but the ability to search for and find relevant live TV content has historically been limited by the technology underpinning older on-screen guides and the use of static metadata such as a show’s title and baseline description.

In an effort to help viewers discover and surface relevant content from multiple live sources, a unit of Comcast has been hard at work at a smarter search platform that can collect and present clips on specific topics that are powered by deep metadata that’s pulled from the contents of the video itself.

The result can remove friction from finding linear TV content and also help viewers discover programs and content from channels that they perhaps were not even aware of, Chris Lintz, senior principal architect for Comcast’s VIPER team, said here Thursday at SCTE/ISBE Cable-Tec Expo on a panel session titled “Enhancing the Interactive Experience.”

VIPER (Video IP Engineering & Research) is a unit of Comcast that designs and develops IP video solutions that support products such as X1, the company’s cloud DVR, and apps for mobile devices.

“We don’t have to be bound by the traditional guide and search on static metadata,” Lintz said. “There’s a gap in linear content discovery.”

The system being developed would let a viewer input a query into the platform (i.e., “Donald Trump and health care” or “Amazon and Whole Foods”), which, in turn would engage in a continuous, real-time program dialogue search and video analysis search engine that would look at individual components such as shots and scenes.

When a match is made, the data would be sent to a notification service and a recording would be scheduled based on that information. Results could include video clips from programming that the customer is entitled to as part of their subscription and also list of content that they aren’t entitled to, but maybe could be if they added that programming to their pay package.

In addition to assembling those clips into the DVR, the system could also be made to send alerts to the viewer on their mobile devices when a clip on the query topic is available for viewing.

Lintz said the system is about two years in the making. “Doing real-time search is hard,” he stressed, noting that the VIPER team has some ideas on how to include an alerts feature that doesn’t overwhelm the customer.

Comcast hasn’t announced when it might turn the project into a commercial product. “It’s a real system in our lab,” Lintz said.

Though VIPER has had this under development for some time, some of that work appears to stem from Comcast’s acquisition earlier this year of Watchwith, a video tech firm that had built a deep video metadata system that can decipher what’s happening inside a move, TV show or sporting event on a frame-by-frame basis.

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Zone TV is connecting with Comcast’s X1 platform for the scary season with “Halloween Countdown,” an OTT-delivered, thematic offering that features a mix of games, movies, “Spooky Tunes” (internet radio) and several karaoke titles from Stingray Karaoke.

It’s not the first time Zone TV has hooked up with X1, as it also the company behind a “Santa Tracker” app/service that made its way to X1 last year.

As of Monday morning, Zone TV’s new Halloween-themed offering had yet to appear among other featured internet apps on the X1 guide alongside Netflix, YouTube and Pandora, but it came up when “Halloween Countdown” was uttered into the X1 voice remote.

Comcast will carry Halloween Countdown on X1 through the end of the month.

The offering includes Halloween Around the World, a library of short-form videos, which Zone TV said marks its first foray into original video production, that includes a tour of Colorado’s Ghost Mines and Philadelphia’s Eastern State Penitentiary.

Games titles featured include The Goblin Arena and Monster Drop, while a VOD library provides direct access more than a dozen flicks, including Casper, Coraline, Frankenweenie, Monster House, and The Addams Family. Also featured are how-to videos on things like pumpkin carving and costume making. ...

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While it’s fun to launch big new features like Fantasy Sports and YouTube, we also know that getting the details right is important and can make or break the customer experience. From launching accessibility settings with the touch of a button to more voice commands and a change in the look and feel of the sports team pages, this latest round of enhancements to X1 is all about making the great features our customers love most even better.

One Step Launch to Accessibility Settings Menu
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Voice Commands For Playback Control
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Sports Entity Page Refresh
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Comcast launched a beta version of their new, cross-platform video service, "Watchable," today:

Introducing Watchable: Bringing the Web’s Best Networks and Shows – from Buzzfeed, GoPro, Maker Studios, Refinery29, Vice, Vox Media & More - to All Screens, Including the Television
Comcast Voices blog - September 29, 2015
»corporate.comcast.com/co ··· atchable

Also on MCN: »www.multichannel.com/new ··· a/394156

EDIT: Karl has a news item up on this now: »Comcast Launches New 'Watchable' Internet Video Service [8] comments

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Two years ago, Comcast launched Watchable, a streaming video platform focused on delivering the best of web video. Watchable was Comcast’s first foray into web video, an area the cable operator had a growing interest in as companies such as BuzzFeed, Refinery29, Vice and Maker Studios were getting a lot of attention. This included funding original shows made by some of these digital publishers and video stars.

Two years later, with small viewership and very little traction in the increasingly cluttered streaming landscape, Watchable is getting out of the original series business and might shut down its consumer streaming video platform altogether.

Watchable no longer plans to fund original content, according to three sources — including two companies that have sold original video series to Watchable and one company that had conversations with Watchable about producing a show for the platform. What’s more, contracts for Watchable’s original content team are set to expire at the end of next month, added one source. Comcast has not made a decision on whether the team will be let go or repositioned elsewhere within Comcast, said a source at the company. While it isn’t as big and didn’t spend as much money as Verizon’s Go90, Comcast’s original content team was responsible for nearly 30 exclusive short-form shows distributed on the platform over the past year.

“They are shutting down the originals part of Watchable,” said a Watchable content partner. “It sounds like, for now, it will remain as an ad-supported platform for the distribution partnerships they already have.”

Comcast confirmed that it’s pulling back from the over-the-top streaming app and original content aspects of the Watchable business, but cautioned that it has not made any final decisions on whether to shut down the app entirely and discontinue the Watchable brand. Instead, Comcast is focusing on finding other ways to distribute short-form digital video on its X1 set-top box and other distribution portals it developed. It also wants to use the streaming technology propping up Watchable for other aspects of the company’s business, which includes film and TV giants such as NBCUniversal and DreamWorks Animation.

“We are taking our learnings, among others, and shifting the strategy for Watchable to focus on integrating the content within our Xfinity TV platforms, notably X1 where we saw the greatest amount of engagement and organic discovery,” said Jamie Gillingham, VP of strategic development at Comcast, in a statement. “Also, we created new technologies for managing and consuming content for Watchable that we are now using in other parts of the business.”

Watchable’s decision to pull back from original content was inevitable, according to content partners. Since launching as an ad-supported video portal, Watchable has struggled to grow a sizable-enough audience that would warrant continued content investments. ...

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Comcast today announced that the company’s Xfinity brand, presenting sponsor of Katy Perry’s 'WITNESS: The Tour,' has launched a new Xfinity On Demand destination in collaboration with Perry. Available to Xfinity X1 customers, the digital destination features hours of Katy Perry content curated for fans, including new songs and music videos, never-before-seen interviews, behind-the-scenes tour footage, and messages from Perry herself.

"The chance to make Xfinity a part of this is awesome fun, and we’re thrilled to partner with Katy Perry to align our entertainment brand with one of the most iconic pop stars of all time," said Matt Lederer, Executive Director of Partnership Marketing at Comcast. "Katy’s fans can’t wait to have her back in the spotlight with her new tour, and we’re proud to be able to provide them with front row access to their favorite artist from the comfort of their own homes."

Through the X1 destination, fans looking to get up-close-and-personal with the singer can access in-depth interviews about Perry’s latest album, Witness, and also catch up with backup dancers from some of her most memorable performances, including “Left Shark.” The digital hub also hosts an extensive catalogue of Perry’s chart-topping hits, along with episodes of "The Making Of" for a view behind the scenes of music videos from “California Girls” and “Firework” to “Swish Swish.”

“I’m excited to team up with Xfinity to share the whole Witness experience with my fans. It means a lot to me for all of my fans, no matter what their situation, to feel like they can come along for the ride,” said Katy Perry. "I love that Xfinity X1 will be a place where I can give fans weekly glimpses into all the different facets of the tour - not just the work of it, but also the fun! It’s a real peek behind the curtain, and up close and personal access to me throughout the tour."

To get even more out of the destination, Xfinity customers can take advantage of the platform’s X1 Voice Remote feature to access Perry’s content using 10 custom commands such as, “Witness Katy Perry” and “Witness Katy Perry Swish Swish.” In addition, fans might even hear a few words back from Katy Perry herself when visiting select content and destinations.

Xfinity is launching a TV spot starring Katy Perry to announce the launch of the new platform. The Katy Perry X1 destination will be updated with new content throughout Perry’s tour, and is accessible to Xfinity TV customers 24/7 with Xfinity On Demand. To learn more visit »my.xfinity.com/#katyperry ...

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quote:

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Ahead of the NFL’s regular season kickoff tonight Comcast and CBS Sports Digital announced a partnership (»www.xfinity.com/sports) that brings a fantasy football experience to Comcast X1 boxes.

The integration will let Comcast X1 subs access their CBS Sports Fantasy Football league via the TV screen and pull up elements such as league standings, weekly matchups, and real-time stats during live NFL games.

Customers can launch the experience via the X1 sports app or by saying, “Show me my fantasy football team” or “my fantasy football team” into the X1 voice remote.

When opened on X1, the CBS Sports Fantasy Football experience will appear on the right-hand side of the TV and resize the live video. ...

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An article on the MCN site today, about Comcast testing a new, web-browser-based, IP video service that runs off the X1 platform, targeted to college students:

Comcast Tests IP Video Service Targeted To Universities
Set-Top-Free ‘Xfinity On Campus’ Service Debuts At Boston’s Emerson College
By Jeff Baumgartner, Multichannel News - November 8, 2013
»www.multichannel.com/dis ··· s/146562

Anyone notice that they allow you to block out unsubscribed channels by pressing guide twice and choosing free to me?