Netflix to make debut on Comcast’s X1 box later this year

Comcast Corp. and Netflix Inc. have agreed to let customers of both companies stream Netflix’s web video content on the cable company’s X1 platform. In a deal announced today and reported on by Forbes, Netflix will be made available for streaming through Comcast’s XFINITY X1 cable system.

Needless to say, this should be a much simpler and efficient way to get your binge-watch on.

Comcast is going to add Netflix to its X1 set-top boxes in the latest deal to blur the lines separating cable TV from Internet video services.

For Netflix, its customers that also use Comcast X1 now have a more convenient access to the service, rather than flipping through their smart TV or using a streaming device like an Apple TV or a Roku. “We’ll provide more details at that time”, the companies said in a joint statement to Recode.

Swinburne sees integration into cable set-top boxes as a big opportunity for Netflix, whose domestic business has matured.

In a 2012 letter to shareholders, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and CFO David Wells criticized Comcast for exempting Xbox from its broadband usage caps.

Since Netflix still relies heavily on major network shows to fuel its revenue, the argument went, it should be tempted by a deal with Comcast that would vastly expand investment in its own popular original shows. The shares are up more than 3% during the midday trading session.

Cable companies have warmed to the idea of buddying up with Netflix over the years.

Netflix has similar deals with small cable operators in the USA and bigger ones internationally, Recode said. Comcast, for instance, now has almost 24 million subscribers to its Internet service to eclipse the cable-TV side of its business.

Last year, an analyst at Forbes went so far as to hypothetically suggest Comcast buy Netflix instead of competing with it. For the protection of AP and its licensors, content may not be copied, altered or redistributed in any form.