Comcast & Netflix: The arc of the deal

WHAT'S THE newly announced deal between Comcast and Netflix going to mean for you as a TV viewer?

Our resident cable giant and the Internet-streamed subscription-TV service says it's a "mutually beneficial Internet connection agreement" that will guarantee a "high-quality Netflix video experience for years to come" to Comcast Xfinity broadband customers.

But what wasn't said is almost as important. Here are some answers:

Q: Is Netflix now going to show up as a viewing option on my cable box?

A: Not now and probably never on a standard-issue Xfinity set-top box. To score Netflix on-demand movies and TV service, you'll still need to pull it in as an "app" on an Internet-connected smart TV, Roku or Apple TV streaming box, game console or Blu-ray player connected to your Internet modem/router and TV.

Q: Will the picture quality be better, at least?

A: That's the promise for customers connecting to Netflix through Xfinity Internet. The improvement won't be visible overnight, according to a post by Jason Livingood, Comcast vice president of Internet and communications engineering.

This new traffic arrangement will put Netflix on a more-direct path to Xfinity cable systems, guaranteeing a more-consistent, higher-speed data stream free of hiccups. So the picture will look consistently sharper, more like high-definition TV. And in the near future, Netflix will push even more detailed ultra-high-definition TV shows - probably not possible without direct-to-you streaming.

Q: Is money changing hands in this deal?

A: For sure, in the millions annually from Netflix to Comcast, establishing a pay-for-better-connections pattern that other cable companies will probably mimic (if they aren't already) with this and other high-traffic generators. The odds are good that Netflix will actually save money with the new system and may not increase charges to its 33 million U.S. subscribers who now pay $7.99 a month.

Q: How does the future look for Netflix on Comcast's high-end, Internet-friendly X1 cable box - now available in Philly to premium Triple Play customers?

A: Winter Olympics viewers were bombarded with a TV commercial for the X1 platform, showing Jimmy Fallon using (comic) voice commands to summon all the available viewing options for Arnold Schwarzenegger movies and Bill Cosby TV shows. At present, the X1 search engine combs through the content possibilities from basic and pay TV channels and Comcast's own video-on-demand catalog, including the Streampix streaming service, which offers "hundreds" of movie choices. But it wouldn't take much tweaking to add Netflix's tens of thousands of available film choices for menu perusal and quick selection. That would make the X1 a far more attractive "portal" to the wonderful world of on-demand Internet video. Which is where the world's headed.

Q: Why is that?

A: Cable companies need to devote lots more signal bandwidth to Internet services. The U.S. lags badly behind many other countries in Web-streaming speed, in part because we built our cable systems in the relative dark ages. Rebuilding an entire system is cost-prohibitive. (The mind boggles at the bill just for redoing Manhattan, if Comcast's takeover bid for Time Warner Cable goes through.)

An easier/cheaper alternative is to change the way TV content is delivered - stream just one channel at a time to a viewer, rather than several hundred simultaneously as is currently done. This would instantly increase available channel options to infinity, and would free plenty of bandwidth for Internet use. Everybody's a winner!

Another solution - change the compression of TV signals passing through today's mostly copper-wired cable systems. We wouldn't be surprised if a few hundred of Comcast's 1,000 engineers - and the 1,300 more to be added in their second Philly high-rise - are now or will be working on that. All designed to make the X1 the ultimate entertainment, information and control "hub" of your personal world - as Apple, Microsoft and Google have also aspired to produce.

Q: Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and Comcast chief Brian Roberts hammered out this deal in January. Why are the companies announcing it now?

A: There's been lots of noise in the past two weeks that Comcast's takeover bid for Time Warner Cable puts too much communications-world domination into one company's hands. The (unspoken) message here is that Comcast can and will play nicely with rivals - even a company leading the cable "cord-cutting" revolution.

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