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Tag: Com Hem

  • Netflix Hits Com Hem TiVo Boxes In Sweden

    Netflix Hits Com Hem TiVo Boxes In Sweden

    Last year, Netflix started emerging on a few TiVo boxes from cable providers, beginning with Virgin Media in the UK. Among the deals announced was one with Swedish provider Com Hem.

    Now, according to reports, Netflix is available on Com Hem cable boxes. According to Engadget, users need only navigate down to the apps menu, log in, and find the app.

    Users will reportedly be able to use their existing Netflix logins to access the service, which is how the Virgin deal worked. In other words, these deals aren’t giving cable providers access to Netflix as part of their service. They’re simply providing more devices upon which existing Netflix customers can watch.

    BroadbandTVNews.com shares a quote from Com Hem chief product officer Asanga Gunatillaka:

    “The new Netflix app complements and further strengthens our current content offering. We want the customer to be able to access any content they want to watch in one single place, regardless of source. As a TiVo user you now easily can search and browse across all of Netflix’s acclaimed line up, together with all the other great content available through Com Hem. This adds up to thousands and thousands of titles, meaning you can find practically anything you would like to watch through your TiVo.”

    Netflix launched in Sweden in the fall of 2012. Com Hem is the first cable provider in the country to offer it.

    Netflix is expected to launch in France and Germany next.

    Image via YouTube

  • Will U.S. Cable Companies Embrace Netflix?

    Will U.S. Cable Companies Embrace Netflix?

    Netflix has been achieving all kinds of new milestones. Its original shows were able to garner a total of fourteen nominations (while also managing to win a few), marking the historical entrance of online video into the television awards.

    Earlier this month, a deal with Virgin Media was announced marking the first time a cable company would offer Netflix to its users. Last week, news emerged of a similar deal between Netflix and Swedish cable provider Com Hem. Like with the Virgin Media deal, Com Hem will offer Netflix through its TiVo boxes.

    These deals might just be the beginning of something much larger for Netflix, however, as the company has also expressed interest in working with cable providers in its homeland of the United States.

    According to Variety:

    Netflix chief financial officer David Wells said at Goldman Sachs’ Communacopia investment conference in New York that the company is open to deals with U.S. pay TV providers, but hasn’t reached any agreements in the States thus far.

    “It’s up to the MVPDs (multichannel video programming distributors) to decide how much of a competitor we are or a complement,” Wells said.

    That is the ultimate question. Is Netflix a competitor or a complement? In reality, the case could be made for either. Some people are happy to get by without a cable provider and stick with Netflix, and perhaps other web-based options to complement it. Obviously there are plenty of others who continue to use both cable (or satellite) and Netflix.

    As Netflix pushes forward with its original programming, it’s looking more and more like an HBO than a cable provider, and HBO is certainly considered a complement as opposed to a competitor (though many – including its own CFO – would like to see HBO go for more of a Netflix-like standalone model).

    Netflix intends to double its original content investment, and is now offering its users a higher quality video experience, so far, while keeping prices nice and low.

    Image: Netflix (YouTube)