Comcast’s Roku and Samsung TV apps will free customers from cable boxes

Later this year, Comcast Xfinity subscribers will no longer need an expensive cable box to watch video on their televisions. The cable giant will instead let subscribers stream video to connected TV devices, starting with Roku boxes, Roku-powered TVs, and Samsung Smart TVs. An “Xfinity TV Partner Program” will bring Comcast’s app to other devices that meet certain technical requirements. This will allow customers to pay one time for the hardware—such as the $50 Roku Streaming Stick—instead of tacking on recurring equipment rental fees to their bills. Although Comcast already supports streaming video on phones, tablets, and computers, TV devices have been an afterthought. Comcast did offer a streaming app for the Xbox 360, but discontinued it last year. The story behind the story: The timing of this news may not be a coincidence. In February, the FCC announced a proposal to open up the cable box market, theoretically allowing any device maker to integrate pay TV programming into their set-top boxes. Cable companies like Comcast have opposed the plan, as they don’t want to lose control over how their customers access TV services. Their own streaming video apps, they argue, are good enough.