Speaking of Netflix, Comcast is launching a Netflix competitor.

But wait — isn’t Comcast already a Netflix competitor with their On Demand service, their Xfinity service, and their stake in Hulu? Well yes, but this will have a new name and new fees! Joy!

Reports Andrew Wallenstein for Variety:

With a business model and catalog-oriented content mix similar to Netflix and other competing services like Amazon and a coming joint venture from Verizon and Redbox, Comcast is clearly attempting to supplement its existing digital presence, Xfinity, with a long-tail-oriented offering. But Streampix is not available to those who don’t already get Comcast cable.

Streampix will either be free to those who get Comcast’s triple-play package of video, broadband and phone or for an additional $4.99 fee on top of other varieties of Comcast offerings.

So, it will only be available to those people who already have Comcast cable. AND it will likely cost you an additional fee even if you’re already spending upwards of $100 a month on cable. What a fucking fantastic sounding service.

There has been a lot of talk behind the scenes, but not a lot of talk in the public recently about a few deals that sure make it seem like Verizon and Comcast are in the midst of a sort of de facto merger.

Or, said another way, collusion.

Good to see people are starting to take notice.

Edward Wyatt:

Four months after the Federal Communications Commission approved the merger of Comcast and NBC Universal, one of the commissioners who approved the deal said she would join Comcast to oversee its government affairs office.

Strikes me as extremely questionable and seemingly sleazy.