Black News Channel will be available to Contour TV subscribers as part of a carriage agreement between the news network and Cox Communications. 

The deal calls for BNC to be in front of millions of Cox Communications' subscribers across 18 states, although specific details were not disclosed. Cox joins Comcast, DirecTV, Charter/Spectrum, Dish and Verizon Fios in carrying the service, which offers programming dedicated to covering the unique perspectives, challenges and successes of Black and Brown communities. 

"We are pleased to reach this important distribution agreement with Cox Communications and continue BNC's expansion," said BNC CEO Princell Hair in a statement. "BNC's culturally-specific news and stories are filling a void in our news landscape that has existed for too long and provides opportunities for our partners to connect with Black and Brown communities that we super serve on a daily basis." ■ 

Cox Communications, which licenses CPE technology from Comcast, has quietly debuted its own streaming player based on the No. 1 operator’s Xfinity Flex blueprint.

According to a Cox rep, Contour Stream has been available to broadband-only customers for $5 a month since May. Light Reading was the first to report on this Cox product. Privately owned Cox has set up a page for the product here.

Just as Contour follows the licensed blueprint for Comcast’s X1 video platform, Countour Stream is based on Xfinity Flex, which deploys a Comcast Xi6 client and XB6 DOCSIS 3.1 gateway.

Related: Comcast Makes Xfinity Flex Streaming Box and Voice Remote Free to Internet Only Customers

Contour Stream supports Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, Tubi and ESPN3 apps, among others. It also uses Contour voice control navigation, just as Flex uses the X1 Voice Remote.

Notably, on Wednesday, Comcast announced that it would stop charging its broadband-only customers $5 a month and start giving Flex to them for free.

Also notable, Canadian operators Rogers Communications, Shaw Communications and Videotron also license X1. Expect a Flex offering from these operators soon. 

Viacom-owned Pluto TV, which launched on Cox's Contour video system last week, is now available on the mother ship, Comcast’s X1.

The ad-supported, free-to-consumer streaming service is now native within the operating systems of X1 and multi-screen iteration Xfinity Flex. This means that the AVOD service appears as a native channel within the X1 and Flex user interface, its programming options searchable and playable via the X1 Voice Remote.

Distribution-wise, it’s a pretty big deal for Pluto TV, which says it currently has around 16 million regular users. More than half of Comcast’s 21.8 million pay TV users are on X1 or Xfinity Flex. 

Related: Cox Integrates Pluto TV into Licensed X1 Platform Contour

“The launch of Pluto TV on Xfinity X1 is a pivotal moment for Pluto TV, expanding our reach to a whole new audience in search of free streaming entertainment,” said Tom Ryan, CEO and co-founder of Pluto TV. “Pluto TV is the perfect complement to the X1 platform, delivering a rich lineup of original live channels and on-demand movies and TV shows to Comcast’s customers right where they enjoy the rest of their entertainment experience.”

Viacom has further expanded the reach of its recently acquired ad-supported streaming platform, Pluto TV, announcing native integration into Cox Communications’ Contour platform.

Integration of the streaming platform means that it now shows up in the Contour user interface and is addressable via voice remote. 

For Viacom, which paid $340 million for the AVOD platform in January, it’s the second major distribution announcement for Pluto TV in the last week—earlier, it said that the streaming service is now available to Amazon Fire TV users in the UK, Germany and Austria.

As for doing business with Cox, the cable company has just under 4 million video subscribers, according to Leichtman Research Group estimates. But it’s unclear as to exactly how many of those use Contour, which is Cox’s licensed and rebranded version of Comcast’s X1 platform. A little more than a year ago, Cox said it had gathered 1 million Contour users.

Pluto TV said it was reaching 12 million monthly users at the time it was purchased by Viacom. It now says that number is up to 16 million.

Typically, Cox announces integration of OTT platforms—Tubi was another recent addition—after Comcast introduces them to X1. And an X1 integration is said to be on the way, but Comcast hasn’t announced it yet.

Related: Cox Integrates YouTube Kids, NPR One Into Contour TV

“This is one more important step in our mission to entertain the planet,” said Tom Ryan, CEO and co-founder of Pluto TV, in a statement. “The launch of Pluto TV on Contour and Contour Stream Player will provide Cox customers with endless enjoyment of our curated, lean-back streaming offering."

Cox Communications has announced that free-to-consumer, ad-supported streaming service Tubi is now available on its Contour video platform.

Contour, of course, is the licensed version of Comcast’s X1 video platform, which debuted Tubi as a native, voice-controlled service back in November.

With the deal, Tubi now has native integration with two of the three biggest U.S. cable operators—a unique position among AVOD companies.

Related: Comcast Integrates Tubi Into X1

“Our partnership with Cox expands upon our mission to make entertainment accessible to everyone,” said Farhad Massoudi, CEO of Tubi, in a statement. “With the addition of Cox Contour, Tubi will continue to have the widest distribution of any ad-supported streaming service.”

Start-up Tubi boasts a library of 12,000 movies and TV shows—a collection it’s currently trying to bolster with the recent securing of a $25 million loan back in January.

The AVOD has also had recent M&A talks with companies including Viacom. With rival streaming platform Pluto TV subsequently purchased by Viacom for $340 million, Tubi has used its resources to build its library and stay in the news.

Recent deals have included archival series pickups from NBCUniversal, as well as Warner Bros. TV.

Cox Communications has integrated YouTube Kids and NPR One into Contour TV, the white label version of Comcast’s X1 video platform.

Comcast had already integrated these apps into its flagship X1 product. Contour already offers Netflix, YouTube and iHeart Radio apps, allowing subscribers to access these services without toggling HDMI inputs.

“Now, with YouTube Kids and NPR One, Contour brings even more age-appropriate content to the TV screen for younger members of the family, and the informative, quality audio programming of NPR One for those who want to stay abreast of current events —particularly as election day gets close,” read a Cox advertisement that ran Thursday in a number of the operator’s markets.

Related: Cox: 1M Subs Now on X1-Powered ‘Contour’ TV Product

The programming is available in the “apps” section of the Contour guide.

Privately held Cox doesn’t often release figures on the number of Contour users, although it did say a year ago that it had 1 million subscribers on the platform. Estimates peg the Atlanta-based operator’s total video base to be around 4.065 million.

Canada’s Shaw Communications, Rogers Communications and Videotron also license X1 from Comcast. 

Cox Communications confirmed that it has activated the integration of YouTube on internet-connected boxes for the MSO's new “Contour” platform.

A Cox official noted that more details about the YouTube integration will be announced later this week, but said YouTube content will be searchable via the Contour guide and will work with the service’s voice remote system.

The integration, first reported by CableFAX, comes about five months after Cox completed the integration of another OTT-delivered service, Netflix. Netflix content has also been woven into the Contour guide and YouTube content is searchable using the Contour service’s voice remote.

RELATED: Cox Integrates Netflix on New ‘Contour’ Boxes

Because it is delivered via the internet, YouTube content streamed to Cox Contour boxes (as it is with Netflix) will count against the customer’s internet usage plan, per this FAQ about the integration.

Cox recently introduced an unlimited data option that complements a policy in which it charges customers $10 for an extra 50 gigabytes when they exceed their monthly data plan.

RELATED: Cox Nears Launch of Unlimited Data Plan

Update: Cox, which has also integrated the iHeartRadio app to Contour boxes, noted that customers can also access their YouTube channel subscriptions, playlists and saved videos through Contour, and that multiple YouTube accounts can be synched. More than 60% of Cox customers say they watch YouTube videos weekly, per a statement from Cox president Pat Esser. 

Cox’s new Contour platform is powered by Comcast’s cloud-based X1 platform. Comcast has also notched X1 syndication agreements with three Canada-based service providers – Shaw Communications, Videotron and Rogers Communications.

RELATED: Videotron to Use Comcast’s X1 Platform to Power New IPTV Service

Cox Communications said 1 million video subs are now on a new version of its “Contour” platform that is underpinned by Comcast’s cloud-based X1 platform.

RELATED: Cox Inks National X1 Deal with Comcast

Privately held Cox has about 4 million video subs, according to NCTA estimates, meaning that about 25% of the MSO’s pay TV base is on the new offering, which features a cloud-powered guide and a voice remote and integration with apps for mobile devices. That's good news for vendors such as Arris, a key  supplier of X1-based set-top boxes. 

RELATED: Cox Goes Wide With New ‘Contour’

Cox said the rollout was its fastest-ever video product launch, and celebrated the Contour milestone this week, hanging a banner at its headquarters to mark the occasion. Its 1 millionth customer on Contour received a free year of video and internet service and an all-expenses paid trip to Disneyland in California.

Cox also shared some other Contour-related stats, noting that 75% of those customer use the voice remote weekly, and that the Contour app, downloaded more than 1 million times so far, now offers more than 85 linear channels outside the home. Contour also offers more than 70,000 VOD choices, more than doubling that amount since 2016. Some 80% of Contour subs use VOD monthly, and Cox has registered about 275 VOD views on Contour since its debut.

Cox also said Net Promotor Scores for the new Contour are 200% higher than for its legacy offering, and found that customers on that platform tend to stay with the MSO longer.

“The syndication with Comcast is going quite well. The teams are working well together,” Kevin Hart, Cox’s EVP, chief product and technology officer, said in an interview this week that will be part of a larger roundtable set to appear in the Oct. 9 issue of Multichannel News. “We just hit 1 million customers on our Contour 2 platform, so that's a big milestone for us. The NPS is up, customer satisfaction is up, and call-in rates and truck-roll rates are down below our expectations.”

***

LEARN MORE:NYC TV Week is coming up, starting with the 27th annual Broadcasting & CableHall of Fame on Monday, Oct. 16. For more about #NYCTVWK, click here.

Looking ahead, Hart said Cox has OTT service integrations (Comcast has already integrated YouTube and Netflix on its X1 platform, with Sling TV on deck) and a cloud DVR service on its near-term roadmap.

Cox has promoted company vet Steve Necessary to executive vice president of product development and management, a role that spans the organization's residential and commercial businesses.

Necessary, previously VP of video product development and management, reports to Cox president Pat Esser. Necessary has been leading the broader on an interim role for the past several months, said Cox, which recently signed a national deal to license Comcast’s X1 platform for a next-gen version of Cox’s Contour multiscreen video product.

“Steve has done a tremendous job leading the product team on an interim basis, driving the rapid expansion of residential Gigabit Internet, transition to all digital video service and the recent launch of the new Contour TV,” Esser said in a statement. “He and the product organization will continue to push for more rapid development cycles to deliver more choice and capabilities to help our customers connect to the things they care about most.”

Necessary joined Cox in January 2005, and has previously held exec slots at Concurrent Computer Corporation, at Scientific-Atlanta (now part of Cisco Systems), and PowerTV, once a video software subsidiary of S-A. 

He is also a member of Cable and Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM), the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) and is on the board of directors for InDemand. Necessary is also an emeritus member of the board of the Atlanta Ballet and Christians in Cable and is active in Mount Pisgah United Methodist Church.

He received a bachelor's degree in engineering economic systems from the Georgia Institute of Technology and earned his MBA from Harvard Business School.

Pleased with its customer and employee trials of Comcast’s IP-capable X1 platform, Cox Communications said it has signed a national licensing deal for X1 and has sparked a commercial rollout of  a new version of Cox’s multiscreen “Contour” offering in San Diego.

Cox recently expanded its X1 trial in San Diego, offering it to customers there who contacted the MSO about the pilot. Previously, Cox was limiting the field test to employees and other “friendlies.” Cox had also been testing X1 with select customers in its Middle Georgia systems.

The licensing deal is a big win for Comcast, which has been looking to scale up its platform by partnering up with other MVPDs. Cox was the first operator outside of Comcast to evaluate X1, but Shaw Communications of Canada has also jumped in to trial it, and expects to move ahead with a commercial launch during Shaw’s 2016 fiscal year. Comcast has accelerated its rollout of X1 to about 40,000 boxes per day. Arris and Pace, which are merging, are Comcast's primary X1 box suppliers. 

The Cox licencing deal is also good news for the Reference Design Kit (RDK), the preintegrated software stack for set-tops and gateways being managed by Comcast, Liberty Global and Time  Warner Cable.  

The new national X1 deal comes amid Cox’s pursuit of a “future-state” video project.

Cox’s new iteration of Contour will support in-home linear TV, apps and widgets, and a cloud-based interface for set-top boxes and mobile devices. It will also feature other elements such as a predictive search engine, a voice-activated remote control, and a VOD library with more than 35,000 “choices.”

The new Contour will also offer an HD-DVR with six tuners, and 2 terabytes of storage.  It was not immediately clear if Cox intends to add a Cloud DVR, a feature that’s now part of Comcast’s X1 platform.

"We are always looking for ways to expand and enhance our video experience for our customers," said Steve Necessary, Cox’s vice president of product development and management, in a statement. "After extensive testing of the X1 platform, we are confident that the new technology will take Contour to the next level, evolving the experience across multiple screens and devices inside the home. Since we first launched  Contour, we have been pleased with the results and we are confident that the new Contour experience will be well received by our customers."

Cox Communications confirmed that it has quietly begun to expand its trial of an X1-powered video offering in the San Diego area, allowing subscribers there to get service via a cloud-based approach that operates on Comcast’s next-gen, multiscreen video platform for set-tops and mobile devices.

Cox has been testing X1 as it pursues a “future-state” video project, and had been testing it in the lab before expanding it to Cox employees in a small number of markets, including Macon, Ga.

Cox spokesman Todd Smith said via email that Cox is taking a “reactive only” approach to the expanded X1 trial in San Diego. There, he said, customers who call in about Contour, Cox’s current-generation video platform for set-tops and tablets, are also being offered to opportunity to get the X1-based service, which Cox is currently referring to as Contour 2.

“We’re not marketing individual features heavily, but focused on testing standard Contour functionality on the X1 platform in a live customer environment,” he said, noting that Cox’s future plans involving X1 are still to be determined though its trial continues to show encouraging results.

Cox EVP Mark Greatrex told CableFAX in its September 15 issue about the San Diego trial and the MSO’s use of the Contour 2 label.

Cox was the first operator outside of Comcast to confirm that was evaluating X1, which Comcast now offers across its national cable footprint and is shipping about 30,000 X1 boxes per day.  

But Cox isn’t alone.  Shaw Communications of Canada announced in June that it was shutting down its original plan to develop an IPTV service to instead try out X1.

Those trials also add momentum to the Reference Design Kit (RDK),  a preintegrated software stack for IP and IP/QAM hybrid devices that’s being managed by Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Liberty Global. Comcast's X1 platform uses the RDK. 

Cox developed its original Contour platform, which features a six-tuner whole-home DVR and a personalized video recommendation platform from ThinkAnalytics (up to eight individual profiles), in tandem with NDS, which is now part of Cisco Systems.