This move comes during a period in which many major pay TV operators have been augmenting their services using tablet computers and mobile devices. Comcast, much like other operators such as Time Warner Cable, AT&T, DirecTV and Dish Network, are now using portable devices as a key navigation and services-enhancement component of their subscription TV services.
To this end, pay TV operators have been evolving their online and app-based services gradually. They have been moving from utility functions (such as remote control, DVR programming) to multi-device video consumption - that is, serving video directly to devices beyond the TV and PC. This has been a gradual process as operators develop their internet platforms, and they obtain new media rights through retransmission and carriage fee negotiations with broadcasters and cable networks.
Play Now is the first sign of a major operator expanding to provide what that can finally be called 'TV Everywhere' - enabling their pay-TV customers to watch full episodes of internet-delivered on-demand content from subscription networks, across all screens. This is going to play an important role in operators providing an answer to the threat from next-generation online networks such as Netflix's Watch Instantly and Hulu Plus, not to mention services from networks themselves such as HBO Go, and streaming apps launched by broadcasters such as the ABC Player on the iPad.
All of these services provide an opportunity for customers to bypass the need for a pay-TV operator altogether, and raises the spectre of 'cord-cutting' - where customers terminate their cable TV subscription, opting instead to receive TV and movie services direct from internet providers.