NYT: Microsoft in talks with ESPN to stream content on Xbox

by Alexander Sliwinski on Jan 18th 2010 6:15PM

The New York Times reports that Microsoft has "held in-depth discussions" with the Walt Disney Company to stream ESPN programming through Xbox Live. According to anonymous sources, ESPN would provide live streams (like it does with the titularly similar – though unrelated – ESPN360) to subscribers for a fee. There is also the possibility that Microsoft may "create some interactive games in association with ESPN" ... as compared to non-interactive games?

The idea described sounds similar to that of the sports-heavy – and UK -only – Sky Player. While North America doesn't currently have a TV streaming application, it does have Netflix. If the Times' sources are on the money, it seems like the ESPN offering would be a similar streaming app, not to mention the next step in an increasingly non-interactive battle for the living room.

[Via @GeoffKeighley]

Source

Tags: disney, espn, Microsoft, new-york-times, Xbox-360

Reader Comments (73)

I don't pay for cable, and I surely won't pay some a subscription fee ON TOP live.

I don't know, many people pay $100+/month for cable TV, this seems like a pretty good alternative.

True but those $100 typically give you phone, internet and Tv and the Tv portion is not just limited to one channel. I pay for netflix, it cost me $10 and can pretty much order anything on tv for that one price as long as I can wait for it to come out. To me I wouldn't pay $10 for just sports, which I see as the minimum cost for this channel.

I was paying over $100 a month for cable until I shut it down 3 weeks ago, and that did not include phone, internet, or premium movie channels. That was just to get hi-def programming into the house with two DVRs.

Now, we just use Apple TV, Roku, 360, and PS3/Blu-Ray to purchase content a la carte. It is much, much cheaper than before.

The ONLY thing I miss under the new setup is hi-def sports. I would pay reasonable fees for things like an ESPN streaming service or NBA League Pass on my XBox 360, or one of my other set top boxes.

My cable company allows access to ESPN 360 and though its pretty awesome I'm not sure I'd pay for it additionally. This would only appeal to a very few contingent of people who don't have cable tv.

@Raffi12

I completely agree. my Fiancee and i are moving to a new city in a 5 months while she works on her PhD. we already pay for cable, but are seriously thinking of moving to using strictly Hulu and Netflix instant streaming. Something like this would allow me to still pay a fraction of what i pay now, but still get to see my Seahawks play every week. to me thats a win-win.

I agree that this sounds like a good addition to the 360, but ONLY if the streams are available in HD.

Then you obviously don't care about sports.

If it's free to FiOS customers, like ESPN360 is, then sign me up. If I have to pay for this service, I'll never use it.

In all fairness this MS we're talking about so I highly doubt they will make an exception for Fios customers.

There's a better chance that Rush Limbaugh will volunteer to do charity work in Haiti, than for Microsoft to not charge/make ESPN charge for this.

Looks like yet another added service on the 360 that people will either use once and forget about, or not use at all.

@Ezio

I dont know about you but i have purchased a few games/movies over xbox live, more than once. and also i use Netflix streaming almost daily. not all of the features are worthless.

a fee for this? microsoft should know that netflix would never have been the hit that it was if people had to pay for it on top of their gold subscription.

i'd be genuinely interested in streaming espn, and it'd be big factor in my decision to not cancel my XBL once i get a ps3, but if they want to charge extra for it, count me out.

Why would you allow your XBL membership to lapse after getting a PS3? The PSN is free, for now...

You do have to pay for netflix on top of your gold subscription. Its called a netflix subscription.

@ytilanigiroon I am also letting my XBL account expire, there isn't enough there worth paying the extra money for and PSN is not as bad as fanboys make it out to be.

@Crono I was paying netflix prior to getting live and once my XBL account expires I will continue paying for netflix. This is just another way to pony up for "Live" and there in lies the problem, if this is offered for "Silver" then its no big deal but since this is MS I doubt it.

@ ytilanigiroon: sure, they might put in a fee for service in the future, but basic things like playing online or access to netflix will remain free, which is pretty much all i use right now on XBL. no point paying for it on my xbox when it's free on my ps3.

@ crono: yes, but that's not what i meant. MS doesn't charge you extra just to stream instant movies on your console. i pay for cable, meaning that i pay ESPN to watch their programming, and so MS charging me to stream ESPN would be like charging me to stream Netflix.

Roger, I agree. I haven't had Gold in a long time. Why? Because I know that Microsoft are a bunch of greedy little ratholes that like to rob us of our money.

I like this idea although it does nothing for me since I get ESPN. What I wish MS would do is get the NFL Sunday Ticket on there.

I live in Florida, and the NFL is usually only on Fox and/or CBS here and the only teams I ever get to see on TV are the fucking Tampa Bay Bucs, Miami Dolphins, or worse....the goddamn Jacksonville Jaguars and their 10 person fanbase.

The only hope I have for seeing good games is if there's a good team playing those teams on that day, or if there's a good doubleheader. I would gladly pay a little extra to get a Sunday Ticket type feature on 360.

Hey, damnit.

No badmouthing the 'Phins. =P

"What I wish MS would do is get the NFL Sunday Ticket on there."

Good luck convincing DirecTV to give exclusive rights to one of their cash cows.

Well for what it's worth the Dolphins were the only team I said without an expletive next to it, so I have slightly higher respect for them than the other two.

I'm sure something could be worked out if enough people were interested, or once the current deal with DirecTV expires. If anyone could make something as large as that happen it's MS with their infinite pools of money.

Its not easy wearing a Dolphins teal hoodie here in Chicago where everyone is a Bears fan but me.

True MS has the money but think of all the little kids that play on live and what percentage they make up. Remember you typical Xbox user, is younger, less educated and less affluent, meaning that I think that it would be pretty hard to make a profit on something that cost $120 ( not sure) for just a few months.

Hey. Up until Ronnie Brown got hurt, they were a pretty fun team to watch. I also think it's funny that I have Sunday Ticket and actually spent a lot of time watching the Dolphins this year. Love me some Wildcat.

This is amusing I get down voted for stating facts about the socio-economic and educational status of your typical Xbox user and why it would not be a good idea for MS to spend millions of dollars to secure seasonal passes. Thank you all that down voted me, you've unwillingly proved my point.

Xbox owners have to be affluent. Look at all the accessories they pay for! ;)

Touche, Bradwart, Touche. :)

I wasn't agreeing with you, however. I don't see how owning an Xbox means you're poor. After all, it has a higher attach-rate, which would imply wealth.

I can't remember the polls, but they are various one's out there and they all pretty much say the same thing. Higher attach rate doesn't mean more affluent, it means you have more spare time to spend on your hobby. Take that into account and lets be real a person that works as a convenient store has a lot more spare time than someone that's a Dr., and is more likely to spend more on games.

You think being a Dolphin fan is hard in Chicago. Try it in Oklahoma City when the entire state is pretty much considered Dallas Jr. Fucking Cowboys, happy Romo got his ass kicked.

Have a little creativity Tmac. You've got a PS3 ... stream the games from justin tv or ustream. Better yet if you have a computer just go to channelsurfing.net, install the plug in and watch any out of market game in high def on your computer. Jeez.

But that would mean I'd actually have to turn on my ps3 and use the laggy slow web browser on it.

GO DOLPHINS! WOOT!

Not having to DVR PTI anymore would be real nice. It's a more sensible delivery method for that show anyway given that I think a substanial part of their audience isn't able to catch it live.

Pretty sure that ESPN 360 only covers actual sporting events and thats usually on college sports and the occasional NBA game. I don't think they put the original programming on there but truthfully I've only used it a few times.

Not subscribing to cable (as netflix gets me all the cable content I could ever want, for much cheaper), the only thing I miss out on is ESPN during college football time. Don't get ESPN360 here (because you can't subscribe to it, in a bonehead move from ESPN), so getting espn content streamed to the box for a monthly fee at or around 10 dollars would be absolute gravy.

Or, in LOLCAT terms:

DO WANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My internet provider doesn't get me ESPN360, so I might use this. We'll see.

http://binkischest.blogspot.com/2010/01/xboxlive-in-poland-still-not-supported.html

I guess Microsoft just doesn't need Poland. They just don't give the CASH like other countries do.

So, ESPN has nothing to do with fees? Only MS?

If they can find a way for me to watch my New England teams, get some balance in news (meaning beyong MSNBC only), my household could probably dump cable.

I welcome this if they can expand on it.

yea...thats what I need on my 360.....100% Sports coverage....

as if the 5 ESPN Channels and ESPN.go.com aren't enough already.....

No thanks......

Microsoft knows you have cable. And they also know that all of the suckers out there that bought in to features they already had on their computer will surely buy into this BS.

@Shadowbender:
What "buying into" have people done with extra Live features? Other than Facebook and Twitter, which are free, what else is there? Netflix? I'd much MUCH rather watch streaming movies through my TV than my laptop.

I assume Shadowbender means gamechat, something that has been free and available everywhere. MS has conditioned the player to pay for something that is free everywhere else, now they did streamline I'll give them that but not worth $50 a year.

@TB uhhh you DO realize that the 360 is NOT the only way to watch Netflix on something other than a PC right? its Free on PS3, Wii, and PC, then there are Blu-ray players and other things that allow you to Stream netflix as well....

@Chris:

Oh I know. I'm just thinking back to when I had Netflix for a while before I had a PS3. It was either watch on my laptop, or stream it to my tv. I wasn't about go out and buy a PS3 or other machine just to watch it when I already had a compatible device. Same I'm sure to many other families.

There had better not be an extra fee for this. There already is a way to get streaming ESPN,CBS,CNN,Amazon Video, and Hulu on the 360. It's called Playon and it can be had for like 20 bucks one time fee. Be warned try before buying though, while it worked pretty well for above stations, there have been tech issues with Hulu and that's the main reason I wanted it.

Good advice on trying playon first, I did it for my 360 and PS3 but didn't use it enough to warrant a purchase but I can see it useful for someone else.

I'm guessing soon after we'll see this on the PS3 with a disk no doubt.

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NYT: Microsoft in talks with ESPN to stream content on Xbox

Reader Comments (73)

Posted: Jan 18th 2010 6:18PM The angry pro consumer gaming ga said

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