Comcast TV Everywhere

The traditional TV is still the device that consumes the most video, but the rise of multiscreen video and authenticated TV Everywhere apps have redefined what a television is, all the way down to the way Comcast inks its distribution deals.

“You won’t see us define a TV in any of our agreements, because, how do you define a TV?” Matt Strauss, EVP and GM of video services at Comcast Cable, said Monday at the J.P. Morgan Global Technology, Media and Telecom Conference in Boston. “You can’t define a TV by a screen size…it's any device that can render video securely.”

With platforms like X1, he said, Comcast now aims to supports not just TV-connected set-top boxes but Web browsers, tablets and smartphones, as well. “We look at blurring those lines,” he said.  “We want to make it easy and seamless for customers to get access to that content.”

When it comes to X1, some of that blurring centers on the Xfinity TV app, which supports multiscreen in-home streaming of the MSO’s full linear lineup, plus access to video-on-demand, and its new cloud DVR product, which allows subs to access recordings in the home and out of the home  Comcast’s multiscreen strategy also revolves around Xfinity TV Go, its TVE app, and support for programmer-operated apps such as HBO Go.