Charter CEO: We’ve considered licensing Comcast’s X1 video platform

Charter has been busy updating its own video service platform and user experience, but the company admitted that doesn’t mean it’s not considering licensing Comcast’s X1.Charter CEO Tom Rutledge said during today’s earnings call that his company is “down the road” with its own user interface, but Charter has had discussions with Comcast about licensing X1 and Comcast’s new IP video platform. Other U.S. cable operators like Cox already deploy a white-label version of X1.“If we could make that the best platform for us, we’d certainly be willing to do that,” said Rutledge. “We think they’d be a great provider.” But, to date, Charter has not set any licensing deal with Comcast, and Rutledge said that his company like its own UI, and likes having the ability to change the UI whenever and as quickly as it wants. However, he said if Charter could “check all the boxes in terms of having flexibility and low cost,” then his company could take on Comcast as its video platform vendor.