Fancast has been in beta testing for the last six months, but at CES in Las Vegas on Tuesday, the site officially went live, and brought Comcast in to the world of IPTV in to the bargain.
We reviewed the early development of Fancast back in August, here on Web TV Wire, and were impressed by its comprehensive database of TV programmes, and movies. So what has changed since then?
Fancast now features full episodes of many mainstream, and some not so mainstream TV shows, as well as the already abundant resources it had for browsing TV listings and movie offerings.
The Ultimate Video Directory
Fancast however is not trying to be a YouTube or even Hulu clone, instead concentrating on becoming the ultimate resource for television and film fans, with a kind of ultimate video directory.
It does this by pointing you in the direction of TV shows and movies wherever they are available, be that online and on demand, or on TV, DVD, or to rent or see at a cinema.
Amy Banse, president of Comcast Interactive Media, explains the idea as an attempt at giving consumers a one stop shop for all their viewing needs.
Focussing On Long Form Content
Rather than trying to steal users from YouTube, and the many user generated content clones out there, the site will focus on long form content, and won’t concentrate on content made for the web.
At this moment in time there looks to be about 100 different shows available on the site, including Heroes, CSI and Arrested Development.
There is advertising present, which is encouraging as it means the site is liable to have a business model likely to last, and allows users to tag and organize videos as they watch them.
Conclusions
Although it’s maybe missing some of the brilliant features of it’s competitor Hulu, Fancast is a good starting point for people looking for television content online.
With Fancast tying in to Comcast’s new Project Infinity initiative, a project intended to bring all content to set top boxes, the future for the site looks bright.
