Microsoft Seeking TV Executive for Exclusive XBox Content

Microsoft is hoping to take a bold new step forward in its dreams of media domination. No longer content to let the XBox 360 stream media from your local computers, Netflix, Hulu and about a billion different other sources, the Company that brought us Windows, Office and the Kin are planning on a move into custom video content. Their first step? Finding a TV executuve to get things started.

The Digital Hub

The XBox 360 started as a classic game console, capable of almost solely playing games. Due to pressure from the Playstation 3’s superb early media support, however, and to counter the threat of standalone streamers like the Roku and the Apple TV, the 360 quickly evolved into a digital hub.

Now, if you want to watch a movie or play music, you can do it through the 360. Microsoft even video podcasts that it propagates through its system.

But up until now, there has never been any exclusive content of TV caliber

From Distributors to Creators

This is a trend that is arising among disgruntled content distributors. Rather than continue licensing shows at exorbitant prices, why not just make your own?

Hulu was the first to start the trend with their humorous TV news show “The Morning After.” Netflix quickly followed suit by acquiring rights to “House of Cards, a political thriller with Kevin Spacey and David Fincher. Netflix will also be producing a new season of the critically acclaimed “Arrested Development.”

Netflix is currently in a content war with HBO, which is trying to shed its premium cable shackles to go digital. HBO has released HBO Go, a mobile app that lets you watch every HBO show whenever you like. It is still tied to your cable subscription for now, but clearly HBO is testing the waters for a separate service.

Trying not to get Left Behind

Microsoft is clearly worried that they will be left behind if they don’t start producing their own content. Digital distribution has become a big deal, with Netflix instant streaming accounting for a good fraction of the load of the Internet during peak hours, so it is no surprise that Microsoft wants a cut.

If this trend continues, we might finally see the TV industry embracing the modern digital world. And if they don’t, well, the companies that produce the shows will.

Photo by : theseoduke