Xumo Enterprise has announced that Cox Communications is integrating 20 free ad-supported TV (FAST) channels from Xumo into its linear guide at no additional cost.
Xumo Enterprise is the business-to-business arm of the Xumo streaming and technology joint venture between Comcast and Charter Communications.
Cox follows Xfinity as the latest MVPD to integrate Xumo-powered FAST channels into its linear guide, after the milestone integration on X1 and the Xfinity Stream app last year. The Xfinity and Cox launches represent an important evolution in the company’s efforts to make FAST more accessible to consumers on a growing range of connected devices, the companies said.
Notably, Cox’s Contour TV customers can now find 20 Xumo-branded FAST channels integrated into their channel guide. The channels span a variety of genres from action, comedy and drama movies to game shows, kids and reality TV programs, plus much more.
Additionally, later this year, Sky will integrate its six new FAST channels into the TV guide on Sky Glass and Sky Stream devices. The channels, which just launched last month and feature a selection of previously aired, much-loved shows from Sky’s expansive catalog, are currently available within the Xumo Play app on Sky’s Entertainment OS-powered devices. By partnering with Xumo Enterprise to integrate the new channels into the guide experience, Sky can offer its customers a new way to discover and enjoy them alongside all their other favorite programming, the Xumo joint venture reported.
These MVPD channel guide integrations are an example of Xumo’s ongoing effort to support consumers’ growing appetite for FAST. Earlier this year, Xumo found in a study that pay TV customers watch more FAST than cord-cutters or cord-nevers and that time-spent watching FAST during primetime hours rivals gaming, social media and cable TV.
