Microsoft, Canal+ in Xbox 360 Programming Deal

Following a similar deal with UK pay-TV provider, BSkyB, that was announced earlier this month (see the article posted on itvt.com, June 11th), Microsoft on Monday announced a deal with French pay-TV provider, Canal+, that the companies say will make a range of Canal+'s live and VOD content--including over 3,000 on-demand films, as well as TV shows and soccer games--available to France's approximately 1 million Xbox 360 users via Microsoft's Xbox LIVE content service. The companies did not provide any information on how the new service will be priced.

As with Microsoft's deal with Sky, the Canal+ deal will also provide Xbox users with interactive TV applications that allow them to pull up scores and stats during sports broadcasts, as well as an app that will enable them to use Xbox LIVE avatars to communicate with one another through voice and text in a shared virtual environment in real time via their broadband connection while watching games. The companies say that they plan to expand their partnership to other Microsoft platforms and Canal+ products going forward.