Microsoft TV plans scrapped over costs

MICROSOFT has withdrawn from year-long talks with media companies about an online subscription service for TV shows, citing high licensing costs.

The company will, however, continue to offer services on its Xbox Live service and at this week’s Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas it announced a partnership with News Corp which will allow Fox Broadcast, Fox News, IGN and the Wall Street Journal to offer apps on the service.

In June 2011, at the E3 show in Los Angels, Microsoft vice-president Marc Whitten said: “This is the year live television comes to Xbox 360.” However, those plans are yet again in tatters. A senior media executive who was involved in the talks said: “They built Microsoft TV, they demoed it for us, they asked for rate cards but then said: ‘Ooh, ah, that’s expensive.’ ”

Microsoft had hoped their Xbox TV platform would be similar to that offered by Sky and even allow users to control the service with voice and motion commands.

Much like the online service from Netflix — which launched in Ireland last week — Microsoft’s service also would have allowed users the option of paying a monthly fee for a package of programming from someone other than a cable or satellite TV company. But, unlike Netflix, Microsoft had hoped to offer current shows and live networks.