Comcast will update its mobile video app and rebrand it as Xfinity TV Go as soon as this week or next, The Verge has learned. Currently known as Xfinity TV Player, the new app will launch on both Android and iOS, offering a selection of roughly 35 live TV channels in addition to the library of on-demand shows and movies that subscribers currently have access to. Comcast's other mobile app, Xfinity TV Remote, will continue to be offered separately and offers remote control of the company's set-top boxes. A Comcast spokesperson confirmed the update.
Verizon customers may get more functionality
The full list of launch channels for live streaming through Xfinity TV Go focuses on news, sports, and children's programming, including BBC World News, beIN Sport, beIN Sport Español, Big Ten Network, CNBC, CNN, Disney Channel, Disney Junior, Disney XD, ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPN 3, ESPN Deportes, ESPN News, ESPNU, FOX Business Channel, FOX News Channel, FOX Sports 1, FX, FXX, Golf Channel, HLN, MSNBC, Nat Geo, Nat Geo Wild, NBC Sports Network, Pac-12 and its six regional networks, and Willow TV. More channels are expected in the future.
The cable company had previously enabled live streaming to mobile devices through its AnyPlay service, but this is different: subscribers will be able to access the live feeds of the participating channels while connected to any Wi-Fi network, not just in the home. Additionally, according to a source familiar with the deal, Verizon Wireless subscribers will be able to stream over 3G and LTE, one of the fruits of the two companies' co-marketing partnership — a partnership that has been criticized in the past for limiting Verizon's own ambitions with FiOS. Comcast was not able to confirm Verizon's involvement by publish time.
This isn't placeshifting
Of course, Comcast is not the first to offer live TV streaming: TiVo just added the functionality to its Roamio line of DVRs, and Sling has championed placeshifting for years both through add-on boxes and Dish Network set-tops. This isn't placeshifting, though — like Time Warner Cable's offering and FiOS, it's all part of TV Everywhere, in which content is streamed not from the subscriber's home but directly from the provider after they've been authenticated. Individual networks must be convinced to offer it, which is why Comcast is only launching with a small subset of its full channel lineup.