With Comcast Stream, the pipes get smarter

摘要

Comcast Stream is not about content. We can get more for less elsewhere. It's about Comcast reinventing itself as an intermediary. I agree with Furious Corp. CEO and founder Ashley Swartz's observation that Stream exists to reinforce Comcast's stake in broadband service provision. In the meantime, a recent Deutsche Bank report shows that losses from cord-cutting are being offset by higher Internet fees. In light of both these sources of insight, CNBC correspondent Michelle Castillo attributes Stream's ripples in the subscription economy to Comcast's deft leveraging of the hype around Over-the-Top (OTT) streaming - for the purpose of wringing cash out of pipes that are already much pricier for consumers than they were when Netflix first began raiding them.