DashJ

The announcement at the 2023 StreamTV Show that Xumo, the joint venture between Comcast and Charter, will be integrating 19 Xumo FAST channels and NBC News Now into Comcast’s X1 cable box is a groundbreaking event for FAST. 

While Comcast has been actively integrating Xumo channels into its new virtual MVPD service Now TV, as well as within the Xfinity Stream app that broadband-only subscribers can access, this represents a new advance in how FAST will be seen by viewers. 

In fairness, FAST is really an industry distinction, one that gets applied to different formats based on the analyst and not something a consumer considers. To the viewer, there’s little difference between a FAST channel and a cable network that schedules multi-hour blocks of reruns in prime time. 

That’s why the integration of FAST into a cable box is a great play. Subscribers will see content that is appealing and think nothing more of it. 

The FAST channels included cover many genres and will appear both in the electronic program guide (EPG) — albeit in their own section and not alongside existing cable networks — and within other areas on the X1 that feature algorithms recommending content based on theme, thus boosting the visibility of the channels. 

Speaking with Variety Intelligence Platform, Vito Forlenza, VP of Xfinity Entertainment Applications, suggested there will be more FAST channels added to the X1 EPG in the future and that these won’t all be from within the Comcast family (such as Sky News).  

This would mean that high-quality, strong-performing channels from the likes of A+E Networks, AMC Networks, BBC Studios, FilmRise, PBS, Scripps Networks and other major channel operators unaffiliated with a streaming service may well see inclusion in the future as Comcast looks to include a “best of” FAST to further add value to consumers. 

Xfinity is not the first TV provider to add FAST to its channel lineup — the majority of VMVPDs already do so — but it is the first traditional MVPD to do so. As for who’s next, sensible money should be on Charter, the other co-owner of Xumo. 

Regardless of whether that happens, it is clear in recent months that Comcast has grown increasingly serious about utilizing its Xumo assets across the Xfinity world to maximize value (and serve ads to consumers whether they stream or watch TV). 

The X1 integration also speaks to how far FAST channels have come. In 2020, when VIP+ published its first analysis of the market, FAST channels still often resembled a bizarro world of television. Now, they effectively are television. 

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