Microsoft Reportedly Backing Away from Xbox 360 Subscription TV Service
Rumors started floating before E3 last year that Microsoft was looking into offering a subscription TV service that would mix some Netflix-style content streaming with more traditional live and network TV content. Since then, Microsoft has gone on to establish the Xbox as a streaming media apps platform, and unfortunately that is also as far as Microsoft is going to get with the Xbox 360 right now. Microsoft has reportedly given up trying to offer its own TV/streaming service because the licensing costs would have been too high. We will continue to see new content via provider apps and services, but not through an app with Microsoft’s name on it.
After talking to programming partners over the last year, Microsoft recently caught a glimpse of what it would cost to roll out its service and it turns out the addition of current shows and live networks put costs over the top.
Cable companies and program makers are likely offering their content for sky-high prices to either get a huge cut of the pie, or thwart potential Web partners all together in an effort to stay relevant.
Just goes back to what I said
Just goes back to what I said in this thread, about companies apparently not wanting to bring in more money. An industry which is struggling, complaining about rising costs, less ad revenue, difficulty reaching consumers, etc, tells a billion dollar company with huge market penetration, “Nah, we don’t want you to sell our product.” I know their illogical reasoning behind this mentality and it’s unreal.
I would have thought the MS
I would have thought the MS would have gone after this to offer cloud based DVR services on the XBOX as well.
“We will continue to see new
“We will continue to see new content via provider apps and services, but not through an app with Microsoft’s name on it.”
There current model is a good cash cow. Charge money for Xbox gold membership for people to access Netflix via the 360. They get a profit from people without having the licensing nightmare. Of course, as more and more smart TVs/Blu-ray players come out that do the same thing for free, this profit will shrink. In a few years, they’ll be scrambling to make a subscription service but by then they’ll be really late to the game.
One more reason for MS to
One more reason for MS to break out Media Center as a Metro app. It could then be repurposed for the Xbox’s new app structure. Admittedly, probably not for the 360, but I strongly suspect that we will see the next Xbox tapping into the same backend app store that Windows 8 is bringing. It will just be a question of which programming language stack they can cross-compile if the next Xbox does not sit on WinRT. They would get around the need to build a subscription IP live TV service and could truly position the Xbox as a setup and OTT box for all scenarios.
Blah! Who am I kidding?
oliverredfox wrote:
In a few
[quote=oliverredfox] In a few years, they’ll be scrambling to make a subscription service but by then they’ll be really late to the game.
[/quote]
Even before all these media streaming apps, xbox live was a striving service for online gaming. The best of all the current gen consoles. They will always still have plenty of subscribers who are only interested in that aspect of it and couldn’t care less about what media features get added. The device is first and foremost a game console. So even if they’re late with the subscription TV/media trend, it’s not like it’s going to hurt much. Anything they add at this point is just bonus and brings them more customers they may not have otherwise had. And like they said, they’ll still be offering it through provider apps (i.e. fios, xfinity, hbo go, etc.), just not something from MS. I’m sure they still get a cut.