Everything You Need To Know About FX+, FX’s New Streaming Service For Comcast Xfinity Subscribers

Fall television is starting back up in a big way. Tonight marks the premiere of American Horror Story‘s much-discussed political season, AHS: Cult. However, FX has another reason to celebrate September 5. Today also marks the launch of FX’s first attempt at a stand-alone streaming service, FX+.

Currently, the commercial-free streaming service is only available to Xfinity Comcast customers as an add-on channel. However, the streaming service has already started making a lot of promises. In FX’s official release of the streaming service, the network said the channel would offer episodes from FX, FXX, and FX’s movie channel FXM. Not only that, but FX+ will eventually have access to over 1,100 episodes of television while acting as the streaming home for new seasons of FX’s current shows. As is always the case when a new streaming service is announced, we had questions. Consider this your guide to FX+’s rocky but promising-looking first launch.

What is FX+?

FX+ is FX’s first serious dive into the world of streaming and on-demand programming. Technically, FX already has a streaming service in the form of FXNOW — something that I will get into more later in this article. However, FXNOW only streams new episodes of current FX shows for select windows of time, and you have to have a cable log-in to even access that. FX+ is supposed to be more of a streaming hub for all of FX’s content. For a monthly fee that’s added to subscribers’ current cable bill, FX+ allows users to stream FX shows at any time without commercials. However, at the moment this added on option is only available for Xfinity Comcast subscribers.

It’s unclear what FX’s plan for streaming currently is, but seeing as how FX President John Landgraf has already announced that FX is in talks to expand FX+ to different cable options, it seems plausible that FX+ will follow a similar evolution to HBO GO and HBO’s standalone streaming option, HBO NOW. FX+ service will likely become an add-on option for all major cable providers until it transitions to a stand alone service.

How does FX+ differ from FXNOW?

The main difference between these two FX viewing options is accessibility when it comes to streaming. Right now, FX is in an odd spot. The cable network has some of the best, most innovative, and most widely praised shows on television, but its current streaming option, FXNOW, only has limited-time access to new seasons of its shows.

As we’ve covered before, FX’s content follows a windowing format, which isn’t atypical when you’re talking about streaming and cable. At the moment, FX has in-season stacking rights for every new season of its shows. Cable subscribers will be able to stream new seasons of shows like American Horror Story: Cult or You’re the Worst on FXNOW from the day the first new episode premieres until those stacking rights end 45 days after a new season’s finale. It’s after those 45 days that things get murky.

Following the month and a half new seasons of FX shows are available on FXNOW, new seasons then enter a period called a blackout phase. During this time, these episodes are only available to stream on SVOD platforms. This period typically lasts anywhere from seven to nine months. After this blackout period, seasons of FX shows are then typically released onto streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime. This normally happens about a week to a month before the premiere of a new season. So for example, through Better Things premiered last September, Season 1 of the series only made it onto Hulu on August 15 of this year. That’s a little less than a month before Better Things’ Season 2 September 14 premiere.

Those are all of FXNOW’s problems, but FX+ is an entirely different story. FX+ will allow users to stream FX shows commercial-free whenever they want on one platform.

Do I have to have Xfinity Comcast to access FX+?

Currently, yes. However, during FX’s day at TCA’s 2017 tour, Landgraf revealed that FX was in discussions to expand FX+ to other cable providers. He also mentioned that FX was investing a lot of its own money into this streaming service and that the Xfinity Comcast launch was somewhat of a soft launch. What does this all mean? It sounds like FX is seriously considering launching its own stand-alone streaming service sometime in the future. According to an interview with Multichannel, it seems as though Xfinity wants to continue giving subscribers access to premium, commercial-free channels with FX+.

How much does FX+ cost?

The premium channel is $5.99 a month in addition to whatever you’re paying for Xfinity Comcast. Also, there is currently no free trial for the add-on. FX has projected that the new streaming service will give subscribers access to over 1,100 episodes of TV and has announced that the platform will eventually include full seasons of 16 different FX shows.

What’s it like streaming with FX+?

The most difficult part of streaming shows on FX+ is actually finding FX+. After subscribing to the service through my friend’s account, I tried to find FX+ through Xfinity Comcast’s network listings. Occasionally the network would pop up with FX+’s new logo, but more often than not, an incomplete version of the add-on channel would be offered to me or the entire channel would disappear altogether. One more than one occasion, I was given a notification that nothing matched my search results after I clicked on FX+.

It should be noted that I was streaming FX+ from a desktop version, not from a smart TV or mobile device. It’s possible that the streaming situation is more seamless on a different device. Also, since this is the first day of FX+’s soft launch, the streaming service is allowed to have a couple of bugs in my book. I found it much simpler to stream a show by searching for it by name on Xfinity’s search bar and selecting the FX+ option.

What devices can I use to stream FX+?

This is one of FX’s biggest pros. Because the streaming service is currently connected to Xfinity Comcast, any device that offers an app for Xfinity also offers it to FX+.

If you want to stream FX+ on your iOS or Android device, the Xfinity Stream app is available for both. This app will let you stream from whatever phone or tablet you have installed, and the streaming resolution is pretty good. Xfinity Stream is available on the iTunes Store, the Google Play store, and through Amazon, which should cover all of your mobile streaming needs.

Also, because Xfinity stream is available through Apple, Google Play, and Amazon, you should be able to stream FX+ on Chromecast, Apple TV, and Amazon Fire — three of the most popular options for streaming TV. However, if you want to stream on Roku, there’s a catch. Though the Xfinity Stream app allows you to stream through Roku, Comcast currently charges an additional $7.45 for each TV using Xfinity Stream through Roku. That means if you want to stream FX+ through your Roku, you have to pay for cable, the cost of the add-on-channel, and an additional TV fee. That’s a big investment.

The Pros: Great Quality and Quick Loading Times

Streaming from a desktop is my preferred way to watch television, so I’m intimately familiar with lagging streams. But on this front FX+ excelled. There were a couple of audio hiccups at the beginning of episodes, but for the most part everything I streamed snapped into crystal clear focus immediately and sounded great on the first load. That’s better than HBO NOW and Netflix, which I often have to load several times to get a solid viewing experiences.

I’m also a fan of FX+’s design. The streaming platform itself is very simple, focusing exclusively on whatever’s playing but offering minimal adjustments like closed captioning, video playback quality, and a way to adjust the auto-hide display, a feature I liked a lot. Playing with this feature early on will definitely lead to a better streaming experience. Though there’s not a clear button to rewind or fast forward through the video I was watching, playing with the arrow keys quickly gave me the adjustments I wanted. FX+ uses the model Netflix has perfected — space to pause, right arrow to speed up, and left arrow to slow down.

However, the element I liked best was the smaller viewing window. As a platform, FX+ already seems fairly in-tune with streamers’ demands. If you’re watching an episode of a show while searching for another episode, the screen you’re watching will minimize to a smaller screen so you can keep watching while you scroll.

The Cons: A Confusing Library Situation

It’s very clear that FX+ is a work in progress based on its library. Though the FX announcement said that the streaming service would have full seasons of 16 FX originals, only 10 currently appear on the add-on channel. At the time of publication, those 10 shows were Snowfall, The Strain, Damages, Nip/Tuck, Lights Out, Louie, The League, Legit, Wilfred, and all seasons of American Horror Story besides AHS: Cult, which hasn’t yet premiered. It’s likely that FX+ will build out its selection the longer it exists, but at the moment the add-on channel is missing some of its biggest and most recent series including It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Baskets. Since one of FX’s biggest problems is the streaming availability of its latest originals, that feels like a big oversight.

Also, there is an odd caveat currently connected to arguably FX’s biggest series to date, American Horror Story. Though all episodes are available to stream through FX+, they could only be streamed in-home only.

Is FX+ right for me?

Quality-wise, FX’s new streaming service is one of the best launches I’ve seen. The video and audio are clear, and there are minimal lags when you’re streaming. Since the ultimate point of a streaming service is to watch TV, that’s pretty important.

On the other hand, it’s impossible to ignore FX+’s limited list of titles, especially now that we’re entering fall TV season. I would love to use this streaming service to re-watch Better Things or You’re the Worst before their September premieres, but in FX+’s current form I can’t do that. It’s also annoying to have Xfinity telling me repeatedly that content I know exists doesn’t exist.

All that being said, the streaming service did just launch today. FX+ is a streaming option that’s worth keeping an eye on, especially considering the way the network has revolutionized modern television. However, at the moment, it’s not worth the $5.99 a month investment on top of your cable bill. Skip it for now, but keep an eye on FX+. If it works out its quirks, it may be the one-stop platform for FX that modern streaming entertainment desperately needs.