Reportedly, Comcast is in talks to acquire a few different companies right now, but the big name that has appeared in these reports is – VIZIO. Comcast wants to acquire VIZIO so that it can strengthen its smart TV platform. Comcast is also kicking the tires on digital entertainment company TP Vision.
Apparently, these talks began last year, and have continued into 2022, but so far there’s no confirmation of whether there is a deal on the table or not. It’s likely that these talks were happening around the same time that Comcast was working on launching a joint streaming service with Charter Communications.
If Comcast could pick up VIZIO, and launch a streaming service with Charter, it could end up being a really huge platform. Since Comcast already has Peacock, which is pretty popular for having a free option.
Comcast buying VIZIO would put them in a similar position as Amazon
Comcast would have its own studios under the NBCUniversal arm of the company, it’s own TV hardware under VIZIO, and of course Peacock as their service that brings them together. That’s similar to what Amazon has now. Since it does have Amazon Prime Video and it makes its own TV hardware (and software).
This would allow Comcast to own the entire process, which might not make it past the FCC and other regulatory bodies.
VIZIO has been one of the biggest TV makers in the US, over the past few decades. So this isn’t just Comcast building its own TVs, or working with a TV maker to do so – like they did with Hisense for the XClass TV that was announced last year.
This will be a smart way for Comcast to continue to grow and bring in revenue, as cable TV continues to die. And everyone moves over to streaming.