By Stuart Thomson

US cable giant Comcast is launching a Sling TV app on its Xfinity Flex service, which targets broadband-only customers that don’t want to take a pay TV service.

The move has been seen as something of a departure for Comcast, indicating a growing focus on attracting and retaining broadband customers as its pay TV base declines.

Comcast launched Flex in 2019 to cater to customers that were only interested in consuming streaming video services rather than packaged pay TV offerings. Peacock, the streaming offering from Comcast-owned NBCUniversal is offered to Flex customers.

Comcast already offers apps such as Netflix to Flex customers. The introduction of Sling TV, owned by rival pay TV operator DISH Network, marks a further departure, although users will not benefit from integrated billing, as is the case with Netflix customers.

The Sling TV offering available to Flex customers – but not to Comcast’s core pay TV consumers – will include its main Orange and Blue packages as its LatinX-targeted services.

Comcast and Sling TV announced in November 2016 that Sling’s multicultural programming would be made available to customers of Comcast’s flagship X1 set-top box. However, the deal was never extended to Sling’s Orange and Blue services.