Cox Pulls Plug on Streaming Video Service
Interesting to see a big cable provider fail miserably at trying to compete with Netflix. Although charging extra for a box just for this, and then charging more per month…seems like it was doomed from the start. That’s where Netflix has the edge, given the vast number of devices which already support it–or heck, even just getting a $35 Chromecast.
FlareWatch, which was being beta tested in select cities in Orange County, Calif., required a Cox Internet subscription. Launching in July as a counter to the burgeoning presence of subscription video-on-demand services such as Netflix, flareWatch offered 97 channels at $34.99 per month, which included 30 hours of cloud-based DVR.
The service, which also required a separate $100 set-top box, did not offer VOD content or transactional movies typically included by most multichannel video program distributors, such as cable, satellite and telecommunication.