By Andy Fry

Comcast in the US has launched a new marketing programme for its Xfinity platform called “Free This Week”. Due to run right throughout 2023, the initiative “will deliver Xfinity customers more value by unlocking a new selection of free content each week from top streaming services and premium networks, no strings attached.”

Free This Week programming will be curated into one simple to navigate destination available on X1 and Flex. A selection of Free This Week programming will also be available on the Xfinity Stream app and Xumo’s XClass TV (all Comcast outlets).

For the first two weeks of 2023, Free This Week will feature no-cost access to wellness apps such as The Great Courses, Gaia, One Day University, Gaiam TV, Sweat Factor and FitFusion by Jillian Michaels. Future participants in the programme will include HBO Max, Showtime, Revolt, History Vault, Lifetime Movie Club and more.

The initiative comes ten years after Xfinity first experimented with free content sampling during its Watchathon Week. But arguably the new all-year round offering is a much more significant venture in the current fragmented landscape. From a platform perspective, it is a way of adding value and maintaining relevance (while also building a new consumer destination off the back of third parties). From a service perspective, it is, effectively, a promotional opportunity. Data released by Xfinity shows viewership typically doubles when a service participates in a content sampling promotion “At Xfinity, we strive to deliver the best experience to our customers and make it easy for them to access all the programming they subscribe to, and also discover programming that might be of interest,” said EVP and CMO, Comcast Cable, Sophia Ahmad.https://www.digitaltveurope.com