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Comcast Launches “Watchable” Video Service, Reported Paid “Six Figures” For Domain

Posted on the 05 October 2015 by Worldwide @thedomains

Comcast has launched a new digital video platform to take on YouTube, Facebook and more with the brand name of Watchable.

Comcast has secured the exact matching .com domain name to use for its newest video brand, with the stand alone website being at: Watchable.com

watchable

The latest product, Watchable.com, is a free video service and focuses on videos from online services like Vice, BuzzFeed, GoPro and more via an iPhone app, web-based player or directly on Xfinity.

So when did Comcast buy the domain name Watchable.com?

According to whois records, that took place about April 21, 2014.

TheDomains reached out to the past owner of the domain name to see if they could share some details on the domain sale and was first told:

I extracted a price that would make anyone who’s ever been wronged by Comcast smile!

Since everybody values domain names differently, that was leaving the door pretty open IMO, as it could be a couple hundred bucks or even a couple thousand bucks, so I asked for some more details. Was this a four figure sale, a five-figure sale, six figure sale?

The seller, who asked to keep his personal name out of the story, then stated that the “first offer was $15K” and came from corporate domain services provider CSC Corporate Domains. After a week of negotiations going back and forth via email, the transaction was finally closed using Escrow.com for a reported “low six figures“.

The seller had thought the potential buyer may have been either Apple or Samsung, but in the end it was not.

Watchable.com at low $xxx,xxx is a great domain name sale IMO, one that actually happens almost daily, with the majority going unreported.

Interestingly, BusinessInsider.com,  reported in August 2015 that the Watchable brand name may change prior to launch.

With the reported low six figure paid for the domain name Watchable.com in April 2015… that would have been interesting!

So are there clues in place prior to the purchase of the domain for the new service and who was behind it?  I ask myself that very important question as a domain name owner anytime I get an offer on a domain name.

The short answer is Yes, in this case, there was at least one clue that was public information.

A trademark filed on February 25, 2014 by Xidio, LLC by Watchable

Xidio is a subsidiary of Comcast.

The domain name has been registered since March 29, 2002 and the website / service is now live at Watchable.com

What does the English dictionary define Watchable as? “moderately enjoyable to watch”

Ehh, me personally, I like exciting, funny, action filled stuff to watch.


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