Comcast Is Bringing YouTube to X1

Image via Comcast

You’ll soon be able to view YouTube videos right from your Comcast cable box.

Comcast and Google announced today that YouTube would soon be available on X1 for customers who have both Xfinity cable and internet.

“We are excited to partner with Google to bring YouTube to X1 and provide our customers easier access to all the content they love in one place,” Sam Schwartz, Comcast Cable’s chief business development officer, said in a release. “By integrating YouTube into the X1 experience, viewers can simply and effortlessly access videos on any topic, from cooking, to beauty and fitness with just their voice.”

The X1 set-top box and its voice remote are probably Comcast’s most popular features ever. Last year, Comcast also added Netflix to the set-top box. The Inquirer noted that Comcast’s moves perhaps came in response to the FCC, which under former chairman Thomas Wheeler wanted new streaming services to be accessible on set-top boxes.

Watching YouTube videos on the X1 box will count against a customer’s data consumed; Comcast has caps in some areas, but not in Philadelphia.

Comcast says YouTube will be integrated across the entire X1 platform, including when searching Xfinity On Demand. “The YouTube integration on X1 will provide users the ability to seamlessly navigate and access YouTube content alongside their cable service,” Robert Kyncl, YouTube’s chief business officer, said in a statement. “And by simply using their voice, users can now access diverse videos that creators make every single day.”