Comcast (CMCSA) has scored its first licensing deal for “X1” video technology with Cox Communications, the third-biggest cable TV company. Comcast in 2015 has sped up the deployment of Internet-ready, X1 set-top boxes within its own service footprint, aiming to cut down on cord-cutting — customers substituting online video for pay-TV. Comcast sells its own broadband, video and phone services under the Xfinity brand. Privately-held Cox, owned by
Beating Apple (AAPL) to market, Comcast launched its $15-per-month Web-based TV service, called Stream, in Boston on Wednesday. Comcast (CMCSA) plans to make Stream TV available across its entire service area by early 2016, the company said in a release. Chicago could be next, say analysts. Comcast’s Stream service will be another test of both live streaming and skinny TV bundles — lower-priced TV packages with limited channels. Comcast’s Xfinity
Calling the video business “a melting ice cube,” SunTrust Robinson Humphrey initiated coverage of the cable TV industry with a mostly neutral view, though Charter Communications (CHTR) mustered a buy rating. Inder Singh, an analyst at SunTrust Robinson, doled out neutral ratings to Comcast (CMCSA), Time Warner Cable and Cablevision Systems (CVC). On Comcast, the biggest cable TV firm, Singh said: “Its balance sheet is almost unrivaled in its