Canada’s Shaw Communications became the latest licensee of Comcast’s X1 to integrate Alphabet's YouTube into the video operating system.
Calgary-based Shaw has 1.67 million pay TV subscribers in the Great White North. It hasn’t disclosed how many of those customers have adopted its version of X1, which it calls BlueSky TV, but it said in its April company overview that the platform is giving it “momentum.”
The integration of YouTube into BlueSky follows Comcast’s deployment in September of the YouTube video platform into X1. U.S. X1 white-label licensee Cox Communications announced YouTube integration in September.
BlueSky subscribers will be able to use their voice remotes to search and watch YouTube content natively on the user interface, just as Comcast X1 users do. BlueSky also integrated YouTube Kids.
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“The addition of YouTube to Shaw BlueSky TV allows Shaw customers to spend less time searching for their favorite videos and more time watching them,” said Chris Kucharski, president of consumer business for Shaw, in a statement. “Whether they’re entertaining friends and family, listening to a playlist or following a tutorial, our customers can have their content all in one easy-to-use platform—and it’s all just a voice command away.”
Like Comcast and Cox, Shaw has also integrated Netflix into its advanced video platform.
Shaw and fellow Canadian operators Rogers Communications and Videotron have licensed X1 technology from Comcast.
Shaw is bundling BlueSky TV with a 150 Mbps internet service with a base price of $65 for the first six months and a two-year commitment in what it calls its “ValuePlan.”