Comcast has begun to quietly test the integration of YouTube on its X1 video platform in markets including Denver.
As first reported by Multichannel News, and confirmed by our own Denver-based FierceWireless editor, Colin Gibbs, YouTube is now appearing in the app section of the X1 program guide.
Comcast representatives didn’t immediately respond to inquires as to how many markets and customers are involved in the test.
Comcast revealed in February that it signed a deal to include YouTube in its X1 platform, which is now available in about 55% of the operator’s pay-TV subscriber base. The announcement came shortly after the cable company debuted the integration of Netflix as a native X1 service.
X1’s YouTube app includes access to the entire free user-generated YouTube catalog, as well as subscription services YouTube Red and YouTube TV. The app reportedly works with the X1 Voice Remote, and it also lets users cast YouTube content from mobile devices.
YouTube 4K content is also available to X1 users who have the new Xi6 set-top, which supports both 4K and high dynamic range.
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Just like Netflix and Pandora, YouTube’s delivery is over-the-top, meaning consumption is governed by Comcast 1-terabyte usage caps and other broadband policies.
Announcing the integration to investors in February, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts stated the company’s desire to be an “aggregator of aggregators.”
“We’ve now completely pivoted to a couple key principles, one of which is we’re going to give the customer the best interface, and we’re going to do it with the content they want, and if some of that content at times is competitive or not, if you come to us, it’s one stop shopping,” Roberts said.
“Our strategy is to get most of our customers in a bundle,” he said. “Every time people take one more product, they churn less,” he added.