Comcast offering Internet viewing through Fancast XFINITY TV

Nick Bowman’s television screen remains dark as he enjoys “Family Guy” from the screen of his computer monitor.

He watches the popular cartoon and several other favorite shows on Hulu, an advertising-supported online provider of television programming and movies.

The Novi freshman finds online viewing more convenient than regular television, particularly because it often has less advertising.

“I can just watch it at my leisure,” Bowman said.

Hulu received a record 856 million video views in October during the peak of the fall TV season, according to a statement from comScore,Inc.

Comcast, one of the nation’s largest cable programming providers and a partner of Hulu, now offers some of its cable content through the Internet in a new service called Fancast XFINITY TV. Subscribers use the service by logging in to their Comcast account and downloading a client program to up to three computers of their choice.

“It gives access to a great number of movies and network shows that would be similar to what you would view on your television,” said Mary Beth Halprin, vice president of public relations and community affairs of Comcast Michigan.

The service currently offers content from 27 different networks, including HBO, Cinemax and Univision. About 1,000 episodes and 900 movies are available for viewing, Halprin said.

The programming is delivered in a format similar to Fancast, she said.

Fancast is Comcast’s free 360p resolution streaming TV Web site (standard definition is 480i). Fancast XFINITY TV includes shows such as “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Cake Boss” and “The Sopranos.”

The service is only available to subscribers of Comcast’s video and cable services. The corporation plans to make it available to any digital video subscriber regardless of Internet service provider, Halprin said.

Fancast XFINITY TV is not intended to be a direct competitor with Hulu and is instead a recognition of the evolving preferences of modern viewers, Halprin said.

“We recognize that our customers are changing their lifestyles,” she said.

Hazel Park sophomore Sophia Elyas prefers to augment her regular viewing with online screenings from her favorite networks’ Web sites.

“If I miss my TV show, I’ll go on that night and watch it,” she said.