In a move that will likely have some people cheering for joy, NBC Universal has announced that it will finally be joining the ranks of Internet TV services with a new live streaming service on its website. Today is both announcement and launch day for the brand new service, and it’s going to be starting life on the desktop only, but is planning on moving to the mobile space by early next year. Considering next year is just a few weeks away it’s not likely that we’re going to have to wait too long to get this going on our favorite mobile devices. NBC Universal’s new streaming service will enable you to view all of their shows, including SNL and Parks and Recreation among plenty of others, on both your desktop and mobile devices.
Here’s the big catch though, unlike CBS All Access you’re going to still need a cable subscription in order to actually view the content from NBC Universal on the web. This is a major blow to those hoping to ditch cable altogether and just subscribe to their favorite channels or networks by themselves. HBO is also planning on launching the same type of service without the need to have a cable subscription, simply subscribe to their programming and you have access to it no matter where you are or what device you use. NBC is making this move because it’s very behind in the arena of streaming content, and while this is definitely a great first step to take it’s one that is still going to need plenty of work done to make it right.
I’m sure many of you out there have already cut ties with your cable company and just stick with things like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu and other streaming services that give you the content you want on demand without all the garbage and expense of a cable bill. Here’s hoping that NBC Universal gets their act together and tells the cable companies to take a hike once and for all so people can just subscribe to what they want without all the extra fluff.