Netflix, which has long had a love-hate relationship with the cable industry, could finally be looking to get cozier with US pay-TV providers.
According to a report Sunday in The Wall Street Journal (subscription required), Netflix is in talks with Comcast, Suddenlink Communications, and other service providers to offer its online video service as an app on their set-top boxes.
However, the talks are in early stages and no deal is imminent, people familiar with the matter told the Journal.
Netflix last month inked a deal with the UK's Virgin Media that will allow it to integrate its streaming service into Virgin's service through TiVo set-top boxes. But a similar deal with US pay TV providers would be the first of its kind.
If such a deal were to come to fruition, it would not only give consumers yet more devices from which to access the online video service, but it would mean US pay-TV providers are no longer working so hard to keep Netflix at arm's length.
Netflix has been hoping to forge partnerships with US pay-TV providers for some time. Last month, David Wells, Netflix's chief financial officer, told Bloomberg during an investor conference that it's had a standing invitation to US cable operators to add Netflix for two years
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