Microsoft puts Xbox TV service on hold

Microsoft has been talking about Xbox TV off and on for some time now, but we’ve heard very little in the way of details despite all of the chatter. The closest thing we got to details was back in September, when Microsoft said that Xbox TV was on track to launch in time for the holidays.

Xbox TV was intended to bring live programming directly through the Xbox 360, complete with on-demand features. Microsoft never said exactly who they would be partnering with, but their comments back in September suggested they were speaking with a good many potential partners.

While Microsoft did deliver a host of new video content to Xbox Live, and it plans to continue rolling out more and more over the next few months, the company has gone radio silent on Xbox TV, and the launch of the service missed its holiday season mark–and now we know why.

According to a report by Reuters, Microsoft has, at least for the moment, pulled out on plans to launch the Xbox TV service after coming to the conclusion that the cost of licensing content to broadcast over Xbox Live was too high.

“They built Microsoft TV, they demoed it for us, they asked for rate cards but then said ‘ooh ah, that’s expensive,'” a media executive who had been involved in the talks told Reuters.

Xbox TV may be dead for now, but Microsoft still plans on making a big push to bring more and more video content over to Xbox Live.

Would you be interested in some sort of on-demand video platform from Microsoft as an alternative to Hulu and Netflix, or are you content with what you use now?

Source: Reuters