Rumor: Xbox Live TV channel pitched to Microsoft by ex-News Corp head

I'm probably alone here but I don't have cable TV, just internet access.

I watch all my shows on either Hulu or similar means (like SouthParkStudios) so I never really had a need to pay an extra 30 bucks for Cable TV. That said...I don't know man I really wouldn't mind paying 12 dollars a year for quality programming.

Hell if that rumored Conan deal had gone through they would have had my money for sure!

No, I'm with you, NaeemTHM. I don't have cable. If I could pay $2 a month to watch shows, I'd do it.

Damn Mr. Moore tell EA to give you a raise brah!

I would also pay for this. That's not a bad deal at all. Especially since the only available cable to me is expensive satellite or an expensive cable/isp broker.

I too lack television. This is really cheap for television, but it depends on how good the shows are/how many channels there are/however they make the system work.

I too do not have cable tv. I have not had cable in my home for over 15 years. Just the internet and netflix. The main reason is, I cannot stand commercials. As long as this service is commercial free, I may use it. Otherwise, I will pass.

I wouldn't mind commercials if it was like some places where you watch a single advertisement before seeing the whole episode.

with the "digital transition" that happened in the US last year, you cant get all kinds of movie channels for free as long as you stay in an area that offers those stations, and most do....if I wasn't addicted to DiscoveryHD, HistoryHD and the like I would probably drop my cable as well

They have these magic things called DVR's if you don't like commercials, but I can see the general point.

Just like the first two guys I don't have any sort of subscription television. I'd hapily pay $12-$24 a year for tv stuffs directly on my 360 (on top of Netflix)

You can't beat $12-24 a year for tv service. Considering it's roughly 40 for extended cable a month. I just want to know if there's any sort of catch to this, assuming it's released.

uhhh if its just ONE channel you can actually....thats not really that cheap....

Awkward. On Kotaku, everybody agrees that this additional fee for only one channel sucks. Here, people who hate it gets voted down while those who agrees with it gets voted up.

Imo, it's really absurd that there's an additional fee when you already have ads in the Dashboard and in the tv channel you'd watch.

ChrisD.... if they charge $1-2 per channel it would be a deal. Its the a la carte cable dream we have always wanted where we only pay for the individual channels we want.

I only watch 10 or so channels each month so my bill could be around $20 per month. Yet I pay directv close to $90 for 200 channels I only watch 10 of.

The way I'm seeing this, is that it would be handled like American television distribution is handled overseas.

It would be one channel, or maybe a small handful of channels (say 4 or 5), that feature popular, first run shows from every network in it's nightly lineup.

Being that the channel(s) are on Xbox LIVE, then the shows broadcast, would be a mix of shows that reflect high interest from the early 20s to late 30s, male demographic, plus some other stuff from a list of the hottest programs currently on TV across all networks, for good measure. So you could expect a single channel with the likes of Conan O'Brian, Fringe, 24, Stargate, Warehouse 13, V, Lost, The Daily Show, The Cobert Report, South Park, Supernatural, Smallville, The Legend of the Seeker, Castle, Doctor Who, Torchwood, True Blood, Weeds, Hung, Breaking Bad, The Office, 30 Rock, The Big Bang Theory, Chuck, Nurse Jackie, Glee, FlashForward, Blake's 7, United States of Tara, How I Met Your Mother, Community, Modern Family, Parks and Recreation, Cougartown, Justified, Spartacus, Caprica, The Pacific, Psych, Burn Notice, Leverage, White Collar, In Plain Sight, Royal Pains, House, a bit of the Discovery Channel stuff . . . etc.

In the past, Microsoft has developed strong relationships with NBC Universal and the BBCA, plus Peter Chernin is formerly of News Corp (ie. Fox and FX), so one could reasonably suspect that initial offerings on the channel, would feature first-run television programing from those networks, and like Hulu, branch out to cover more networks as the channel became more popular.

Now I don't have cable either, I get all my TV via torrents. However, if such a service did exist on Xbox 360, all the programs streamed in HD, featured some form of faux (in the cloud) DVR capability and had limited commercial breaks, all for $12 to $24 per year, then even I'd be strongly tempted to hang up my bittorrenting ways for good.

if anything they should lower the price

But... it's optional, right?

I might be willing to pay $1/month for television, if the programming was good.

If they want to add a lot of features, fine. Make these Gold level features and allow Silver access to online games.

@ 32X

If online gaming access were given to Silver members, I'm sure very few of us would bother paying for Gold. Be realistic, Microsoft is not about to let go of the cash hog that is XBL.

They just have to make Gold more of a value for your 50 than it currently is.

That's why I shop smart and never pay more than $25 for Live ;)

How do you get live for a year at $25?

I check CheapAssGamer.com daily. Every couple of months you'll see a good deal on Live subscriptions (lately there've been quite a few) and when I find them I usually buy a couple years in advance.

And Wizz before you go off on your little, "Microsoft certification process hurting the little man rant" I will have you know the 3rd party certification process fees are exactly the same for both Sony and Microsoft, down to the last penny.

@Temidien

Thanks. I try to keep an eye out at CAG but haven't been there recently. I'll have to start checking more and do what you do!

Yeah, but things generally don't get 'lost' in Sony certification process. Notice how patches generally hit 360 last?

@Spike

You should definitely jump on there more often. I have a backlog of 15 A-AAA titles I got for half-price or under just from checking CAG regularly. It's a truly great community and saves me an unbelievable amount of money (being a college kid I don't have much to begin with.

I can't sing their praises enough.

I've picked up some good priced titles thanks to them myself. I'm always waiting for hardware and live subscription deals. Want a couple 12 month cards and a new HDD.

I think we all hated on Game Room for a good reason before it came out...

I'm not arguing that the TV channel concept isn't silly (it clearly is), just that I see no reason why we should hate on something we aren't being charged extra for (as in our regular monthly XBL rates won't go up, just for those who opt to purchase this).

For all we know, the content could be great and worth paying for. Flaming a completely optional service before any programming or pricing details are even released is pointless and childish.

Well, if it remains optional, okay. But if we're spammed with ads about it unless we pay for it, not cool.

Have we ever NOT been spammed by ads on the dashboard and website? I'm honestly surprised there isn't more of it.

(I swear I'm not a Microsoft apologist, I'm just very anti-flaming atm)

I really wish 360 would have the Adblockplus plugin like firefox.

You'd only be paying more if you "subscribed" to the TV channel. Unless they get some good shit, I don't really see paying for this...but who knows, maybe they will surprise...

You can get bent if you honestly believe Microsoft is strong-arming you into paying for anything at all.

You make the choice to pay for Live. Deal with it.

The people complaining about this (supposed) $2/month charge are kids who still live at home and have never had to pay a cable bill.

Huh, I had no clue Netflix was available for $1-2 a month. Thanks for the tip!!

Yeah, unless it's included in gold (w/o price change), count me out.

Hurray for disappearing threads that leave my comments context-less.

Edit button, Joystiq. Seriously.