Comcast stream will ‘cannibalize’ MSO’s core video services, analyst says

Comcast’s upcoming over-the-top pay-TV service could prove popular enough to siphon subscribers away from the MSO’s more profitable linear video products, an analyst tells FierceCable.

“This service is very attractive,” said Joel Espelien, senior analyst for The Diffusion Group. “Our data shows these OTT video services have appeal beyond just millennials. There is a real potential that these services will start to cannibalize the core pay-TV market as some people choose to ‘downsize’ their pay-TV packages.”

Comcast said it will soon begin testing in Boston for a new OTT service for Xfinity broadband subscribers that offers mobile-device streaming of broadcast channels and HBO, plus an assortment of on-demand programming, for $15 a month. Comcast said the service will expand to its entire footprint in 2016.

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