Comcast To Launch YouTube App For Its 11 Million ‘X1’ Set-Top Box Users

Media and telecommunications giant Comcast is integrating YouTube into its X1 set-top box product, which offers live, on demand, DVR, and online programming. YouTube is the second major streaming app to be added to the X1, as Comcast added Netflix to the platform in July following a dispute between the two companies regarding web traffic throttling.

YouTube will become a part of X1 across the U.S. later this year — whereupon Comcast’s roughly 11.25 million X1 users will have access to all of the streaming giant’s videos with a dedicated app. Additionally, Recode notes, Comcast will suggest YouTube videos alongside traditional programming that is available within the X1 platform. All YouTube clips will be searchable via the X1’s voice-controlled remote.

“By integrating YouTube into the X1 experience,” Comcast Cable’s chief business development officer, Sam Schwartz, said in a statement, “viewers can simply and effortlessly access videos on any topic, from cooking to beauty and fitness, with just their voice.”

Recode notes that Comcast won’t initially receive any money for showcasing YouTube videos on the X1. However, the company could eventually enable consumers to sign up for YouTube’s $10 monthly subscription service, YouTube Red, directly through X1, and thus pocket a cut of these payments.

In 2015, Comcast launched its own answer to YouTube, an ad-supported streaming service called Watchable, which curates content from roughly 30 different media brands, including AwesomenessTV, BuzzFeed, Tastemade, and Vice. Meanwhile, YouTube is reportedly looking to get into the Comcast business of selling cable bundles. The video giant reportedly has a skinny bundle of live channels currently in the works called Unplugged.