If you're as addicted to Hulu as I am, then you know how frustrating it's been not to be able to watch shows like True Blood or Mad Men from anywhere.
Especially since you're explicitly paying for the premium content from HBO or Cinemax.
But now, if you're one of the 23 million Comcast cable customers, you've been saved.
The cable giant launched it's new online on demand service XFinity TV Tuesday opening up premium cable content to the Internet.
The service, which went through a silly rebrand before launch (just what is XFinity supposed to mean, anyway?), is built into Comcast's Fancast online video site.
Users will be able to watch shows from HBO, Cinemax, Starz, A&E, History, AMC and more -- provided they normally have access to the channels.
Show availability will work a lot like the on demand cable service. Some shows will be available the same day they air, while others will delay additions by days or weeks or only offer past seasons.
For example, if you missed an episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia on Thursday, you'd have to wait until the following Thursday to watch the show.
That begs the question as to whether favorite shows would be offered right away. If hit shows like Big Love or Entourage only allowed you to access episodes from past seasons, the service would quickly loose it's appeal.
After taking the service for a spin Tuesday evening, the site acted as I expected, but there were a few variants.
To access the videos, users have to log into the site with their Comcast.net account.
One drawback was that you must register your computer with Comcast -- presumably to prevent piracy. To register, you have to download an activation plug-in for your browser that will allow you to watch content on one of three computers. Yep, you read that right -- one of three. Also, users who have 64-bit processing, must dial back to 32-bit for the service.
Availability of brand-new content was also limited -- though it should be said that we're in between TV seasons. HBO offered only season 1 of True Blood, but did have the Robin Williams comedy special that aired last week.
Looking for the latest episode of TLC's Cake Boss, I could only find one that aired before Thanksgiving.
Hopefully, in time this will grow. Comcast says it plans to expand offerings to include additional networks as time goes on, though it will not add sports content from Comcast SportsNet.
The launch of the Xfinity service further fuels questions about the future of Hulu. Comcast is set to acquire a 33-percent stake in the video streaming site when they become the adoptive parent of NBC Universal -- the parent company of this site (as if you didn't know).
Though, Comcast had already planned to launch the service well before talk of acquiring NBC U came around.
As for ads, some shows will carry ads, while content from premium providers like Starz and HBO won't. The less ads the site carries, the more traction it will gain over its future half brother.
