Gerry Smith

Apparently, Comcast has acquired rights from cable network owners to offer their channels nationwide, giving the biggest US cable operator a backup plan if rival online-TV services catch on with consumers. The rights allow Comcast to sell video service for the first time outside its regional territories, which include Chicago, Boston and Philadelphia. In most cases, Comcast acquired the rights through “most favored nation” clauses in contracts, which let the company sell channels in the same places as new online distributors.

Since Comcast doesn’t sell traditional cable-TV service in markets like New York and Los Angeles, the rights mean the company could presumably offer a package of channels as an online-streaming service in those cities. In some scenarios, Comcast asked for the rights as part of broader carriage negotiations with programmers. For now at least, Comcast has no plans to offer a video service nationwide because it still sees opportunity to gain cable-TV subscribers in its footprint, apparently.