NBC rumored to join CBS by launching its own streaming video service

Are you ready to sign up for yet another online video streaming service? A new report claims Comcast is making plans to launch one for TV shows that are available on its NBC network, along with shows from its family of NBCUniversal cable TV channels, such as SyFy, Bravo, USA and others.

According to Bloomberg, via its unnamed sources, the new service may launch sometime in the next 12 to 18 months. The report says that Comcast is still figuring out the details of what would be included, such as a decision on whether or not to offer a live feed of NBC’s broadcast.

Comcast currently owns 30 percent of Hulu, which features a library of current and classic NBCUniversal shows. If the company moves forward with launching its own streaming service, it could also decide to remove current episodes of its various TV series from the outlet. If that happens, that would make its new streaming service similar to rival CBS All Access, which also offers current and older shows from its library, along with live feeds of its network, but also does not feature current episodes of its series on Hulu. Comcast has already launched Seeso, a streaming video service with both older and original comedy shows.

So why are we seeing all of these new streaming video subscription services pop up? As Bloomberg points out, traditional live TV viewing has gone down in the past few years while viewership from services like Hulu, Netflix and others keep going up. Comcast is reportedly trying to stay ahead of the curve and prepare for the future, where more and more people may dump watching shows via cable TV in favor of live and on-demand streaming. The downside is that customers may not want to keep up or pay for all of the number of services that continue to launch, adding to an already crowded field of competitors.