Showing an impressive level of foresight, Comcast has boldly predicted that this YouTube thing that has been entertaining internet users for the last 12 years might end up being a pretty big deal. To capitalize on this phenomenon, Comcast has announced that it’s going to launch a dedicated YouTube app on its Xfinity X1 boxes later this year, putting the site’s content directly alongside the real TV shows and movies you can normally watch on cable. The specifics of the deal—as in how much money is changing hands or how many ritualistic sacrifices the two companies are engaging in—have not been announced, but this will certainly make YouTube bigger and Comcast richer one way or another.
This news comes from Variety, which says the X1 box’s voice command abilities will also be usable within the YouTube app, meaning you can tell the thing to play “Charlie Bit My Finger” or whatever people are watching on YouTube these days just by asking for it. This is also the same basic agreement that Comcast and Netflix made last year, with Netflix content available on X1 boxes alongside regular cable services as well.
As Variety notes, this is all part of Comcast’s scheme to take over everyone’s living room and make secondary devices like Rokus or Apple TVs irrelevant. Once it has achieved that, it’ll be easy for Comcast to rally its forces and try to take over the whole world. It might be weird for us to live in the United States Of Comcast at first, but at least it will be very easy to access streaming content.