Charter and Comcast clearly have high hopes for their joint venture streaming venture announced earlier this year. And now the initiative has a name: Xumo.
The JV is in the process of transitioning from a free ad-supported streaming TV service to what a press release describes as “an entire entertainment ecosystem” that includes streaming devices, content and a platform upon which audiences can be reached at scale.
Comcast and Charter made other announcements related to the new name today: Flex, a 4K streaming device that Comcast licensed to the joint venture, will become known as Xumo Stream Box. Comcasts current smart TV platform XClass TV will become Xumo TV.
The Xumo platform will compete with established streaming platform brands including Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and others.
The existing Xumo FAST service will become Xumo Play. It consists of hundreds of linear channels and on-demand offerings. It will be a free offering on Xumo devices and be available as an app on other streaming platforms.
Xumo’s branded devices will enter the market late next year. They will be distributed by the two service providers and Walmart. Additional distributors will be announced.
“Since 2011, the Xumo brand has connected with millions of customers across the country, establishing itself as a leader in the free ad-supported TV industry for the innovative ways it delivers content to its users,” Xumo President Marcien Jenckes said in a press release.
The JV, he said “will bring industry-leading streaming and aggregation technology nationwide through its expanding content, product line up, and retailer relationships.”
The 50/50 partnership between the two broadband giants was announced in April. Comcast licensed Flex and XClass TV as well as the Xumo streaming service to the JV. Charter made an initial cash contribution of $900 million, to be funded over multiple years. As of the end of last year, the two companies had almost 60 million residential broadband customers.
Comcast introduced XClass TV in October 2021. It was made available directly to customers whether or not they had an Xfinity subscription, across the United States.
