ESPN were in talks with Microsoft in a very "private" meeting, about the possibility to stream sporting events live on the XBox 360. Of course fee's would be involved but now your average gamer, on any given sunday, could sit at home and switch back and forth from Madden '10 to whatever football game was on.
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For a per-subscriber fee, ESPN could provide live streams of sporting events, similar to the ones available through ESPN 360, a service that is available from some high-speed Internet providers. Microsoft could also create some interactive games in association with ESPN, the people said. One of the people said the deal was not imminent. The companies declined to comment. |
If you think about it, this is a plan to save TV and cable television. With more and more shows coming to Internet TV such as The Guild, or the online television network Revision 3, the best way to get your shows from the TV to your targeted audience will be through the consoles. 60% of American homes currently have some sort of console in the house. Microsoft also claims that it has already sold over 39 million consoles world wide. Thats alot of machines, and viewers.
There has been no formal announcement of this as an agreement but I'm sure it's not too far off. The possibility will give console players, which were gaming machine, an evolved carrier of media. With more ways to get online and connect socially (Facebook/Twitter) plus streaming videos and live events, your console is becoming more than a gaming rig, it's become an entertainment portal.
Of course i own a PC, so i could do all this already.
Source: The New York Times
