Xumo comes to Comcast’s X1 as well as Android TV

An over-the-top video service just got a spot on the home-screen interface of America’s biggest cable operator. Xumo announced Monday that its free, ad-supported streaming TV service is now available on Comcast’s Xfinity X1 platform.

The Irvine, Calif.-based Xumo service also announced that its app is now an option on 10 Android TV devices, including the Nvidia Shield media player and “select” Sony connected TVs.

“We’re focused on bringing our service to the most popular devices available and have expanded to a record number of new platforms this year alone,” Xumo senior vice president of product Chris Hall said in a prepared announcement.

In April, Xumo said it had gained 5.5 million monthly users and set a goal of quadrupling its streaming time by the end of this year.

In late June, CEO Colin Petrie-Norris told FierceVideo that the 5.5 million figure was “now out of date” but did not offer newer data. Another free, ad-supported streaming service, Viacom-owned Pluto TV, reported 18 million monthly viewers as of the end of July.

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Xumo is pronounced “zoo-mo,” which is important for users of Comcast’s X1 voice remote. The service offers 166 channels in such genres as news, movies, sports, travel, comedy, fashion and pop culture. Many feature such established media brands as CBS News, Bloomberg, Time, USA Today, People, TMZ, Vanity Fair, CNet and Wired.

(Disclosure: This story’s author also writes a tech column for USA Today.)

Speaking on a panel at the Pay TV Show in May, Petrie-Norris emphasized the importance of being ad-supported in an understated way—with about half the ad load of traditional TV. 

“We had to learn not to make as much money as possible in every ad instance,” Petrie-Norris said. 

Xumo has already offered apps for iOS and Android as well as Roku media players and such connected-TV lines as those of Panasonic, Philips, Samsung, Sharp, and Vizio. On LG smart TVs, Xumo is available via the Channel Plus service it runs for that firm.

In April, the company revealed plans for an Amazon Fire TV app. Xumo has also signed a distribution deal with T-Mobile that has put its app on phones sold through that carrier’s Metro prepaid service and begun to boost mobile viewing.