Spectrum Ditches Cable Boxes for Streaming Devices; T-Mobile Might Acquire Frontier as Cable Landscape Evolves
Spectrum looks to be cutting the cord itself, as its Xumo joint venture with Comcast will soon be the best way to get a pay-TV subscription from the company.
At the moment, Xumo isn’t much more than a place where users can watch live free ad-supported TV (FAST) channels and on-demand movies. But the service is about to become much more, as soon as partners Comcast and Charter Communications decide their joint venture platform is ready to be shown in its new form.
- Charter recently unveiled the Xumo Stream Box, which will replace cable boxes for new Spectrum TV customers.
- Charter CEO said in August that Xumo would be the company’s ‘go-to’ method of selling pay-TV subscriptions.
- Reports indicate former cable provider Frontier Communications may be acquired by T-Mobile.
So Long, Cable Box!
The cable box has been one of the most important pieces of equipment in the home entertainment device suite for decades. Millions of American homes relied on the cable box to transmit their favorite channels to their television set in the salad days of pay TV, but now one of the country’s largest cable providers is giving the ubiquitous box the boot.
Instead of cable boxes, Spectrum will now give users a Xumo Stream Box when they sign up for a Spectrum TV plan. The Xumo device will function much like an Amazon Fire TV or Roku streaming device, except that in addition to being able to stream all your favorite subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) services like Disney+, Prime Video and Netflix, it will be responsible for delivering your cable channels via internet as well. Access to Disney+ will be crucial for Spectrum TV customers, as the company’s latest carriage deal with Disney includes a provision that gives them free access to the ad-supported plan of the streamer.
The changeover from cable boxes to Xumo Stream devices has already begun, and users who want to make the switch can head to Spectrum’s website to arrange to have their old box swapped out for a Xumo player. The changeover was accompanied by advanced warning; in August, Charter CEO Chris Winfrey said that the Xumo platform would be Spectrum's “go-to” method of selling cable subscriptions moving forward. Charter’s partner in the Xumo JV is Xfinity, who has also nixed the traditional cable box in favor of streaming devices that also deliver pay TV.
The Times, They Are A-Changin’
The move by Spectrum to eliminate cable boxes is just another sign that the pay-TV landscape is evolving out of necessity. Cable companies lose millions of subscribers every year, and some have exited the cable business altogether in order to focus more on offering broadband and phone service.
Frontier Communications is one such company. It used to offer cable plans, but now any users who want to bundle their Frontier internet and phone with a TV service are given the option to sign up for YouTube TV instead of a Frontier cable package. Now, a report from Informa's Light Reading indicates that Frontier may be acquired by T-Mobile, which would signal the end of independent operations for one of cable’s former brightest stars.
It’s not as if linear TV will evaporate from the Earth overnight. September’s TV ratings as measured by Nielsen indicate that broadcast and cable still make up a big chunk of overall TV viewing, but providers are being forced to rethink the way they deliver that content to viewers. Spectrum’s decision to replace cable boxes with Xumo devices is just the latest example of the transformation pay TV has undergone, and more examples will become apparent as streaming takes its place atop the entertainment market.
Xumo Play
Xumo Play is a free video streaming service that includes on-demand access to several movies and TV shows. Xumo Play offers 290 free virtual channels, including those focused on reality TV, vintage TV, and game shows.