ViacomCBS And Comcast Renew And Expand Carriage Deal, Adding BET+ To Streaming Roster On Xfinity

ViacomCBS and Comcast have reached a distribution renewal that continues carriage of CBS and a roster of cable networks on the No. 1 cable system in the U.S. while also deepening the companies’ streaming ties.

The agreement follows a similarly comprehensive one reached earlier this week between Comcast and WarnerMedia. Comcast also closed a key agreement with Disney in late-2021. While cord-cutting is continuing to erode pay-TV revenue.

The multi-year ViacomCBS deal includes carriage for ViacomCBS networks like CBS, BET, CBS Sports Network, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount Network, Pop TV, Smithsonian Channel and Showtime. It also extends the availability of streaming services Paramount+, Pluto TV and Showtime OTT on Xfinity, as well as adding BET+ to the fold.

With 18.55 million residential customers as of last September, Comcast Cable is the largest cable system in the U.S. The company has also moved aggressively into broadband video, with Flex. The connected devices are now in more than 3 million Comcast households.

Comcast and its pay-TV operator peers have weathered the decline of traditional subscribers by offering broadband, which enables non-cable subscribers to gain access to streaming. Comcast has integrated a number of streaming services into the interface of TV service Xfinity X1 as well as Flex and its new line of X Class smart-TVs.

“We are pleased to have reached new agreements that strengthen our long-valued partnership with Comcast,” said Ray Hopkins, ViacomCBS’ distribution president. “ViacomCBS is a cornerstone content provider, and we look forward to serving millions of Xfinity customers with greater access to their favorite channels and programming from our leading brands.”

Financial terms of the renewal were not disclosed.