13 Jan, 2012
An Xbox TV service, where you can choose whatever channel you want to watch, and not have to pay for channels that you never want to see? Sounds like a dream, and Microsoft was oh so close to seeing it happen on the Xbox. However, the licensing costs of making this a reality made the technology giant flinch and back out. That doesn’t mean the entire project has been canned.
According to a report by Reuters, the service would have been similar in structure to Netflix’s movie streaming services. Users would be given the option to pay a monthly subscription fee for programming from someone other than a satellite TV company or local cable. However, Microsoft wanted to stream current shows and live networks, which made the cost painfully high.
This wasn’t a sudden project thrust into the light of CES 2012. Microsoft has been in “intense talks” with potential partners for over a year, and was wanting to implement the Xbox TV service within the next few months. But thanks to the high costs of licensing, Microsoft backed out.
“They built Microsoft TV, they demoed it for us, they asked for rate cards, but then said ‘ooh ah, that’s expensive,” said an unnamed senior media executive who had a hand in the talks. “It doesn’t mean they won’t be back in another iteration. We’ll have to wait and see.”
Early versions of Microsoft’s TV service included the use of Kinect to change channels with voice and motion controls.
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