The newest set-top box from Spectrum cable is going to be a game-changer for Western New Yorkers without a smart TV – and it could help the company compete in the age of cord-cutting.
For traditional cable viewers, the new Xumo Stream Box opens up the world of streaming entertainment. For streamers, it puts cable channels and streaming in one place. And for Spectrum, it hopes, it will keep customers from leaving, and maybe even bring some old ones back.
It tackles one of the last pain points cord-cutters complain about – what Xumo president Marcien Jenckes calls the “fractured entertainment landscape.”
“[It] breaks down the streaming silos and makes TV easy again,” he said in a statement Thursday.
Like the traditional set-top box, it brings viewers live TV channels as soon as it’s turned on and contains a channel guide. But like a smart TV, the Xumo Stream Box is preloaded with hundreds of subscription-based and ad-supported apps, such as Netflix, Apple TV+, Disney+, Hulu, Max, Netflix, Peacock, Pluto and Prime Video.
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The remote is different, too.
In addition to the traditional buttons, it includes a voice-search feature that allows viewers to ask for whatever show or movie they want, and the system will find it for them – whether it’s live, on demand or in a streaming app.
To use the device, customers must also have Spectrum internet service.
Three in four American households have a smart TV, according to a report from Hub Entertainment Research. Four out of five have either a smart TV or an internet-connected streaming device.
New Spectrum video customers will get one free Xumo Stream Box per Spectrum household for 12 months. Existing customers can purchase the device for $60 or pay a $5 per month equipment installment plan for 12 months.
The roughly palm-sized Xumo boxes are plug-and-play portable, and can be used when traveling.
Xumo is a joint venture between Comcast and Charter Communications, the country’s two major cable providers, and is powered by Comcast’s Entertainment Operating System.
Like Netflix’s “Watch Next” feature, Xumo uses artificial intelligence to consider viewing habits and hobbies, then uses that to suggest movies and TV shows – and keep customers watching. Xumo also has “My List,” which allows users to save their favorite shows, and keep their own personalized profiles.
If something goes wrong with an existing customer’s set-top box and it needs to be replaced, they will still be able to request a traditional set-top box as a replacement.