Update April 8: Discovery+ Xfinity support is now starting to roll out for Xfinity Flex customers. Xfinity X1 support is also now confirmed to be coming soon, although no firm date has been provided. End of Update
Discovery+ is currently unavailable through Xfinity services, but there has been some recent indications that Discovery+ support might arrive later in the year for Xfinity X1 and Flex customers. Comcast is understood to be working on adding support, but there are likely a number of reasons slowing things down.
Discovery+ is a great option for anyone looking to stream popular networks and shows, and especially for those who want to avoid paying for a live TV subscription. Priced at $4.99 per month with ads or $6.99 per month without, Discovery+ provides access to more than 55,000 episodes of shows from Animal Planet, Discovery Channel, HGTV, ID, and more.
As Discovery+ is still a newer service, it is currently limited on device support with Xfinity devices a prime example. However, that’s not to say support won’t go live in the future. Device support is always a work in progress with these services and new platforms and devices are often added over time, opening up the service to more consumers.
Will Xfinity get Discovery+?
At the moment, it remains unclear when Xfinity customers will gain access to Discovery+ without the need to use a separate device. Comcast has yet to officially confirm a release date or even confirm that support is being worked on.
However, there have been some indications recently that support could go live later in 2021 for select Xfinity customers. For example, a recent reply from the Comcast Cares Twitter account recently suggested Discovery+ could become available on Xfinity X1 and Xfinity Flex “later this year.” In addition, a comment in the Xfinity forums references a conversation with a company representative who stating the Discovery+ app is due to arrive on the Xfinity platform at “the end of 2021.”
Although these comments don’t represent official confirmation that Discovery+ is going to arrive on Xfinity devices, the limited information coming through does point to an increased likelihood the app will become available, albeit not until much later in 2021.
Why Discovery+ isn’t on Xfinity
Xfinity devices run on the Xfinity platform and operating system. This is different to other major platforms, such as Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, and Roku. As a result, Xfinity tends to require its own dedicated app and that’s where the current problem might be.
Unless an app is being developed for Xfinity devices then streaming Discovery+ won’t be an option. In general, many popular apps remain unavailable on Xfinity for the same reason, in spite of being commonly available on other platforms. Peacock is an obvious exception here as support for Xfinity devices actually went live long before NBCUniversal’s streaming service became available on other platforms. The reason for this is NBCUniversal and Peacock are owned by Comcast, with the company using Xfinity devices to test the service before it was launched nationwide.
Adding to this, Comcast tends to take care of subscriptions for its customers. In other words, instead of subscribing to a service directly, Xfinity customers usually pay Comcast and Comcast then pays the third-party service.
With situations like this, a deal is usually done between the two companies. With no deal between Comcast and Discovery to carry Discovery+ on the Xfinity platform having been announced, this could be another element slowing down the arrival of the app.
Discovery+ on Xfinity summary
Although Discovery+ is currently unavailable on Xfinity devices, it could be soon. Some recent comments by Comcast’s social media and forum representatives have indicated the support is being worked on and Xfinity X1 and Xfinity Flex devices could get Discovery+ later in 2021.
The Xfinity platform requiring development of a separate app, as well as the lack of a confirmed deal between Comcast and Discovery to carry the streaming service are likely to be contributing to the delay of Discovery+ on Xfinity.
