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Now watch ESPN live on your Xbox
By siliconindia
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Tuesday, 15 June 2010, 19:50 IST
Bangalore: After the negotiations that started two years back, now the video console deal between Microsoft and ESPN has turned up. According to the partnership ESPN's sports events will be available for the users of Microsoft Xbox 360 consoles this year.
Access to ESPN's broadband sports network, known as ESPN3, will be free for premium subscribers to Xbox's membership service, which is called Xbox Live.
Microsoft's decision to pay a license fee for ESPN3 reflects an eagerness on the part of console manufacturers to be a pathway for content.
"Through the Xbox we can reach a group that we don't normally reach," said John Kosner, the Senior Vice President and General Manager of ESPN Digital Media. He said the service would create a "live event experience" for the Xbox 360 console.
At a Microsoft press conference at the Electronics Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles on Monday, ESPN demonstrated that viewers would be able to chat with friends and answer trivia questions during games, in part through voice recognition.
The partnership, which will go into effect in November, does not appear to threaten the sports media empire's lucrative deals with cable, satellite and Internet distributors.
ESPN3 shows more than 3,500 live sporting events a year, according to the company, but not some of the marquee events that drive television ratings. In order to watch ESPN3, a user's Internet service provider must have a licensing agreement with ESPN.
