Google continues to build out its lineup of content partners for the Chromecast streaming media device. This time, partners include Comedy Central, Sesame Street Go, Nickelodeon, and TuneIn, providing a good mix of comedy, kids and radio/podcast content for direct broadcast to your TV or display.
Other new channels include EPIX, YuppTV and Encore, which add additional TV and movie content, including live broadcast Indian television, and U.S. blockbusters. The new apps debuting today should help make Chromecast an even better companion for Thanksgiving gatherings, offering up something for the family to gather around while waiting on that turkey to brown.
It’s interesting to see some content partners, like TuneIn, debut on Android TV first and then make their way to the Chromecast later. Casting functionality is a different approach to the native, local software available on Android TV, but media providers testing both models will be able to shed more light on what stands the most chance of prevailing long-term.
On the one hand, Android TV built directly into televisions and set-top boxes shows a lot of promise – you don’t need anything else, just pick your app and go. On the other, smartphones are ubiquitous as it is, and you’re more likely to have the content you want on the device you always have with you than on a local service, especially if you’re using it away from home or at a new location.
So long as Chromecast keeps signing on media partners, and those same partners continue to loosen up about how and where their content gets consumed, my long bet is on simple streaming, rather than separate platforms.