Sky TV coming to XBox 360

It seems that Microsoft’s Xbox 360 is all set to becoming a complete entertainment box. What we gather is that a deal has been made between British Broadcaster Sky and Microsoft. According to that deal, live Sky television programs including sports, TV shows and movies can be seen on UK and Irish Xbox 360 consoles by fall 2009.

Sky has plans of offering various subscription packages to in order to provide the users with the ability to customize depth of programs they wish to see on their consoles.  Pricing details are yet to be revealed. All these programs will be delivered to the users via their broadband internet connection.

Although no official word has been heard uptil now regarding the availability of Live Sky TV for US version of Xbox 360 consoles. But there is a feeling that this news is not far away. A spokeswoman said:

Xbox is going to continue to evaluate bringing our content to the right regions

Xbox consoles will utilize this latest feature via Sky Player. Sky in a Press release stated that the Sky Player will be available for use in the following ways:

• For a customer joining Sky through their Xbox, Sky Player TV will offer a wide range of linear TV channels as well as a comprehensive library of on-demand content. A number of subscription packages will be available, as will the opportunity to access programming on a pay-per-view basis.
• Xbox owners who already subscribe to Sky TV will now be able to access Sky Player’s on-demand services through their console, in addition to their PC or Mac. And for those customers who also subscribe to Sky Multiroom, Sky Broadband Max or Sky Player Multiroom, they will also be able to enjoy live TV via their console.

Stephen Nuttall, Director of Sky’s Commercial Group, in regard to this release stated:

Our innovative partnership with Xbox puts more choice and control in the hands of customers. Now Xbox owners can enjoy a wide range of TV through their console and can pick and choose the packages that are right for them. For Sky, this makes our content even more widely available and opens up a new commercial opportunity.

Neil Thompson, Head of Xbox UK and Ireland made commented on account of this deal

Our customers have told us that they want the opportunity to use their consoles as a way to access TV and once again Xbox has pulled off an entertainment first with amazing content and rich interactive experience. The combination of Sky’s leadership in content creation and aggregation and our own in creating a constantly evolving new generation of rich 360 entertainment experiences means we are one step closer to our goal of offering Xbox owners the best entertainment experiences out there, whether it’s movies, music, games, interactive experiences or high quality TV.