Microsoft as repeatedly rumored has kicked off its Xbox 360 live TV option. Cable and fiber TV providers such as AT&T, Comcast, Verizon, as well as individual TV stations such as Bravo, Epix, HBO, and SyFy, are all promising apps for the new Xbox Dashboard to watch TV online. Most if not all of the services will require that viewers authenticate to get access and will still need to have traditional TV.
The BBC's controlling trust on Friday approved Project Canvas but imposed a few important conditions. These include free-to-air access, access to the platform for content providers and ISPs and industry consultation. Project Canvas is a joint web TV venture between the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Five, BT, TalkTalk and Arqiva that would bring Internet content to the TV
Hulu's plans shifted today with a pair of leaks, one of which is its own. A news tip from network executives alleges that the TV streaming service has been scrapped for the UK in the near future as they and Hulu have failed to reach deals. The Telegraph sources allege that ITV refuses to allow its content beyond its own web service and that both Channel 4 and Five object to Hulu having control over which ads are sold.
As announced last fall, TiVo will return to the UK market after a seven-year absence. TiVo will partner with the UK's Virgin Media, which will develop the cable firm's next-generation set-top box. While details on the hardware are thin on the ground, TiVo chief executive Tom Rogers said it will be heavily based on the TiVo Premiere slated for other markets and confirmed for the US.
The free online video-on-demand (VOD) service, Hulu, may be expanding for the first time to a market outside of the US, with a launch in the UK as soon as September, the UK's Telegraph reported on Wednesday. Sources close to the negotiations tell the daily newspaper that Hulu is in talks with the UK's ITV and Channel 4 for content partners, and the service would bring over more than 3,000 hours of American TV content. Content from the BBC is also being negotiated.
