Comcast is reportedly creating a video service to rival the likes of YouTube. The service is to be called "Watchable" and will feature videos from popular websites.
The company is courting a number of websites to partner with in the creation of the service, among them Vox, VICE Media, Buzzfeed, The Onion, and more.
A video streaming service from Comcast has been rumored for a number of months now, with the news first breaking in April. Reports suggested that Comcast was pouring money into its service after giving up on a takeover of Time Warner Cable. Based on some reports, however, the service was in the works long before the merger with Time Warner was announced.
The service is likely aimed at doing a number of things. First of all, it will one-up Verizon, which is also rumored to be creating a video service of its own. The service could potentially be a big moneymaker for the company as well, especially if it ends up taking off in any way.
Of course, the largest reason for the service is the fact that Comcast is currently the largest seller of video-ads in the U.S. but is losing some of its market share to the likes of YouTube and Facebook. The service, if successful, could help combat this.
A full list of partners for the service has not yet been finished, with companies signing on to the service for up to a few years. As part of the partnership, companies will have to agree to upload unlicensed and original content to Watchable for users to stream whenever they want.
Of course, this will not be Comcast's first entrance into the video streaming market. The company already has a smart-TV product called Xfinity, which allows customers to stream an unlimited number of movies and TV shows from their TVs, smartphones or tablets. The box behind this is Comcast's X1 box, which will eventually be the only box that the company uses, with plans for the company to switch out other boxes for the X1 box in the near future.
Publishers themselves are likely to be interesting in Watchable for a few reasons. The first is that it is essentially a new marketing opportunity for them, allowing brands to move away from only being known online to also being known by traditional TV users. Not only that, but if successful it could make them a lot of money.
