Comcast has issued an official statement refuting a report last week from BestAppleTV that suggests Comcast has no plans to build an Xfinity Stream app for the Apple TV.
The report said that Comcast both passed on using the Apple TV hardware for any cable TV streaming service and passed on building a streaming app for tvOS. Now Comcast is pushing back against the report.
“BestAppleTV ran a story last week that contains numerous inaccuracies and wrongly conflates individual business dealings and relationships from Sky, NBCUniversal and Comcast Cable,” the company said in a statement. “To be clear, Comcast Cable is deeply invested in development and innovation of its flagship whole-home platform, Xfinity X1, that is changing the way millions of people watch TV and manage the connected home.”
Comcast pointed out that its Xfinity Stream app is available on iOS and Android mobile devices, and on computers and laptops via the Xfinity Stream web portal. The Xfinity Stream app is also available for Roku devices and Samsung smart TVs, with support coming soon for LG and Sony smart TVs as well.
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“And Comcast Cable is actively in talks with other device manufacturers to distribute the Xfinity Stream app, under terms that are mutually agreeable, through the Xfinity TV Partner Program, which continues to enable us to efficiently and effectively expand the range of devices our customers can utilize to access their Xfinity TV subscription,” Comcast said.
BestAppleTV is standing by its story.
"The Comcast statement, not provided directly to us, does not address or refute the specific claims of the current Apple relationship in our story. Furthermore, it does not re-confirm what it has already told investors...that it would take the already-developed technology from Now TV and re-package it for distribution on Comcast-labeled Roku boxes to its Xfinity cable subscribers sometime in 2020, but not on Apple TV devices," the publication said in a statement. "The statement is meant to re-affirm investors that it is committed to their platform, but not to address distinct and explicit facts of the story."
The report said that Comcast planned to use Roku-based hardware from Sky (which Comcast recently acquired) and repackage it for its U.S. cable subscribers in 2020.
Sky announced in 2016 that it was using Roku’s hybrid set-top box platform for its Now TV streaming service.
This article has been updated with a statement from BestAppleTV.