Comcast, Charter take on Roku in streaming TV joint venture

Comcast Corp. and Charter Communications Inc. have joined forces to launch a nationwide streaming platform, a move that could pose a threat to the likes of Roku Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. As part of a new joint venture, Comcast will license Flex, its box that brings together streaming apps on TVs, and contribute its line of smart TVs, called XClass TV. Comcast’s streaming services, Xumo and Peacock, will be available on the devices. RSVP for Ad Age In-Depth: TV Pivot on May 24 and 25 at AdAge.com/TVPivot Charter, which is better known to consumers as Spectrum, will make an initial contribution of $900 million over multiple years. The partnership is a sign that Comcast and Charter, the two largest U.S. cable-TV companies, are not ready to cede the market to Roku and Amazon, the two largest makers of devices that people use to watch streaming services in their living rooms. Comcast and Charter sell internet in different cities, so teaming up allows them to reach customers nationwide. In the past, the two companies formed a joint venture to launch a wireless phone service. Subscribe to Ad Age now for award-winning news and insight. Shares of Roku fell 1.7% to $90.17 at 9:45 a.m. in New York after Comcast and Charter announced the partnership. Geetha Ranganathan, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, said the new platform will have a national footprint of 62 million broadband homes, “effectively raising the stakes for Roku and challenging its dominant role as gatekeeper.” —Bloomberg News

Comcast, Charter take on Roku in streaming TV joint venture

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