Microsoft have announced a deal with satellite tv broadcaster Sky, that will see online movies, tv episodes and sports streamed on its console.

Surprisingly this is the consoles first attempt at streaming online broadcast TV although its rivals – The Sony PlayStation 3 and the Nintendo Wii, have streaming internet tv content available using the BBC iPlayer service.

Owners of Xbox 360 Live service in Great Britain and Ireland can view the Sky TV catalogue including live sports, TV shows, video on demand and catch up tv services with out needing a satellite dish, subscriptions or any other hardware as it will all be streamed online

Although prices for the service have still to be announced it is believed that existing Sky subscribers may get the service for a reduced cost or even for free.

The chief of Xbox UK/Ireland Neil Thompson commented:- “The entertainment world is changing immensely, with consumers looking for choice, flexibility and convenience. They also want to experience community elements.”

It is understood that the selection of TV channels and streaming content that will be available on Xbox will be similar to the existing Sky Player services already available on computers.

To add a social networking element, Xbox Live viewers can all interact together whilst watching Sky TV content, by chatting whilst watching.

The social community watching will begin with sport broadcasts, and could potentially roll out to other live TV content as well.

At present, Sky users can access tv streams from satellite service, a PC service and a mobile service, either separately or in a combination.

Sky has 9.3 million subscribers in the UK, and the firm said “hundreds of thousands of people” were using its online Sky Player regularly.

Microsoft would not say how many Xbox 360 users it had in the UK, or how many Xbox Live subscribers.

The video content from Sky will be streamed in standard definition, ‘DVD quality’ and will require users to have a fast broadband.

Mr Thompson said the deal with Sky did not rule out the BBC’s iPlayer ever appearing on the Xbox 360.

Its a great move, even hardened Xbox users get sick of playing Halo sometimes.

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