Microsoft have confirmed that owners of its Xbox 360 games console who are also Sky subscribers will be able to access Sky TV later this year through the 'Sky Player' interface.
It is worth stressing that to access Sky TV through the Xbox 360 you must be an existing Sky digital satellite subscriber or willing to take out a subscription. The choice of programmes available through the new service will reflect the Sky package you have chosen.
The advantage of the new service is that you can watch Sky without the need for satellite dish. You can of course already make use of Sky Player through your PC, but using the Xbox 360 hooked up to a TV gives consumers another option.
A range of programmes (yet to be confirmed) will be available on a pay-per-view basis along with an assortment of interactive features. For example, viewers watching Sky Sports will be able to exchange messages with each other in real time via their broadband connections while checking news items and accessing fixtures and league tables.
The only slight disappointment is that there will be no High Definition content at launch although hopefully HD content will be available at some time in the future.
Responding to the huge popularity of the likes of BBC's iPlayer video on demand service, Sky are also recognizing that it pays to offer consumers a variety of ways to access TV content. Neil Thompson, head of Xbox UK and Ireland indicated that they were responding to a growing number of Xbox 360 owners who wanted to access TV through their console.
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