Mediacom signs with Xumo

DENVER – SCTE CABLE-TEC EXPO – Xumo has signed a deal with Mediacom Communications, the first operator to work with the streaming specialist outside its joint venture backers – Comcast and Charter Communications.

Marcien Jenckes, Xumo's CEO, announced the deal here at a late afternoon session to discuss the vision of the national streaming JV and its interest in working with other cable operators. Light Reading reported last week that Xumo is pursuing partnerships with small- and midsized operators under a subscription and advertising revenue-sharing model.

Mediacom's plan is to offer the new Xumo Stream Box, which integrates an array of subscription and free, ad-supported streaming apps, to broadband customers who do not take the operator's pay-TV service.

Mediacom also believes it can benefit from advertising opportunities in markets where the operator is nearby or adjacent to Charter and/or Comcast systems.

Mediacom hopes to get the Xumo Stream Box to customers by the end of the year, a Mediacom official told Light Reading. However, the company has yet to say how it will distribute the device to customers. Charter, for example, is providing the Xumo Stream Box free for a year to new video customers and using Xumo as its lead video product. Comcast intends to offer the new device to its broadband-only customers.

Mediacom will continue to use TiVo as its partner for the operator's full pay-TV service.

Xumo hopes Mediacom is one of many North American cable operators it will partner with. "We aspire to be in business with a lot of you," Jenckes said to the standing-room-only crowd gathered here.

In addition to supporting apps like Netflix and Disney+, Xumo's platform also integrates Xumo Play. This free, ad-supported streaming service delivers over 300 channels, including 50 new channels added this year.