Another Netflix Rival? Comcast Jumps In

The competition to offer streamed movies and TV shows over the Internet got even more crowded today as Comcast announced its version, reports the Los Angeles Times. The cable provider's Xfinity Streampix will be available only to Comcast customers for $5 month—it's free for some, depending on their current package—compared to Netflix's fee of $8 a month. Sample fare: 30 Rock, Grey's Anatomy, Ocean's 11, Brokeback Mountain.

With the service limited to Comcast homes, the company says it is not trying to compete against Netflix. But "it is nevertheless a shot across the bow of the upstart web streamer—threatening to take away some of its subscribers," notes the Wall Street Journal. Netflix has the better library, and that gap got even bigger today with a deal to get first dibs on movies from the Weinstein Co. such as The Artist, notes AP. (More Comcast stories.)