14 DAY TRIAL // Today, Comcast released Fancast to the world and it really was worth the wait since April, when it was first announced and when the name was acquired from movie site Fandango. It is both a media guide for TV shows (in other words, a TV Guide) and a place to watch full-length professional content, as well as previews.
The big deal that was left somewhere in the shade was the partnering with Hulu.com, the joint venture of NBC and Fox and, now, the site is able to offer shows from those two, in addition to the formerly known about CBS, MTV and BET. It's very user friendly both as design and concept, and if it doesn't stream the full-length piece you are looking for, it will most definitely help you in your search for it on TV, DVD, in theaters, or even somewhere else on the Internet, like iTunes, Amazon, Netflix or Blockbuster.
What does a TV guide have to do with all that? I'm not entirely sure, or better said, I'm in the dark. But the other features that give you access to an IMDB-like experience are welcome, information about casts and crews, reviews of past episodes and related photos are very important for a serious TV fan. Mark Hendrickson, of TechCrunch.com, says that: "Users are also promised the ability to control their DVR online so they can schedule recordings of shows when they are away from home. Furthermore, the service will recommend shows coming up on television that it thinks you might like to see." Wouldn't that be great if it were to come true? Actually looking at the product as it is right now, I'm inclined to believe that these features will be dead on what they are promised to be, nothing less, no "work in progress" sticker on them once they are launched.
On side news, Comcast has partnered with TiVo and is currently negotiating with Time Warner and Cox.