First there was Netflix. Now there's... just about everybody.
The latest major TV provider to offer a subscription TV streaming service is FX Networks, home of "American Horror Story," "The Americans," and plenty of other shows without "America" in the title. Its new FX+ service will launch Sept. 5, the company announced Monday.
Its shows will stream commercial-free and it's actually cheaper than Netflix at $6 per month. But there's a massive catch. The only people who can get it are those who already subscribe to Comcast's TV service, aka Xfinity TV, aka cable. Cord cutters, this isn't for you.
What Comcast subscribers are buying for their extra $6 per month is a complete lack of commercials. The service will offer current season shows on-demand without ads, as well as previous seasons going back, in some cases, to the show's inception.
Some shows, however, won't be available since they're tied up in previous deals. They include older episodes of "The Americans," the first season of "The People vs. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story," and "Atlanta," the New York Times reports.
For years FX has offered its FX Now app to cable TV subscribers nationwide (not just Comcast), including numerous FX shows and Simpsons World, with every episode of that venerable animated series. The catalog on FX+ is even larger, however, and will feature more than 1,100 episodes of shows going back 15 years. But no Simpsons.
Earlier this year AMC launched a similar service on Comcast, called AMC Premiere, for $5 per month.