• by Alex Weprin , November 15, 2018

The addition of free streaming video service Tubi is particularly notable — Comcast's X1 has only featured video apps from the biggest names in technology, such as YouTube, Netflix, and Amazon Prime Video. 

X1 is Comcast’s cloud-based platform, which it offers to its customers in lieu of bulky set-top boxes.

Tubi is an ad-supported service with a library of around 8,500 film and TV titles. It will be available in X1’s apps section and through Xfinity On Demand.

Tubi is also available through iOS and Android apps and OTT platforms such as Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, and video game platforms.

However, there are many consumers who still pay for traditional cable service — such as the one offered by Comcast— but don’t yet watch much streaming video. That is one reason why streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video are available via set-top boxes.

They want to secure subscribers through people who already pay for TV.

Both Amazon Prime and Netflix are premium subscriptions, while Tubi is free and ad-supported. Ultimately, Tubi and a number of other companies are betting that consumers will have some subscription fatigue, supplementing their premium subscriptions with free offerings.

By securing placement on X1, Tubi is hoping Comcast customers will consider its free movies and TV shows to be an alternative to pricier competition.