Netflix has been in the news a lot lately, first for their deal with Comcast and then for their subsequent price hikes. This latest news, however, takes things up a level: Netflix will soon be available on cable.
Now, before you get too excited, we must tell you that it is only for customers of RCN, Grande Communications, or Atlantic. None is what you might call a “giant” in the cable industry, and indeed these providers are only available in select parts of the country.
While Netflix executives were mum on the deal, David Isenberg (Chief Marketing Officer for Atlantic Broadband), said that:
“We're making Netflix a channel on our lineup and in our channel guides. If you're an RCN customer, perhaps in the D.C. area you would pick up your remote control, you would tune to Channel 450, and there you'd find Netflix. You'd select it and that'll launch the Netflix app. Literally, watching Netflix is as easy as changing the channel.”
Given Netflix’s tenuous relationship with Comcast, don’t expect to see this type of arrangement become widely available with the nation’s largest cable providers. Nevertheless, it’s the type of deal that sets an example for other streaming services to follow, and could lead to even further integration between cable and internet television in the weeks, months, and years to come.
[via UPROXX]
