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Yet Another Entry Into TV Distribution

June 15, 2010 | Neal | No comment

ESPN Coming To Xbox: Will Offer Over 3,500 Live Events, Free For Gold Members

It looks like ESPN and Microsoft are teaming up to bring you ESPN3.com (formerly ESPN360) via your XBOX platform.  My big question on this is what value gaming platforms really provide over time.  As their makers push more and more functionality into them, are they really just becoming set-top boxes? Are they substitutes for desktop PCs?  I’m not sure what the viability is of an XBOX console is over and above a desktop with all of the same media input and storage devices (and the occasional special controller for game play).  I can get games on my PC, I can get ESPN3 (and other TV/movie content) on my PC, I can interact with other game players on my PC, I can play BlueRay DVDs on my PC, and well, you get the idea.  What can’t I do nearly as well on my XBOX/PlayStation?  Type… Bring it with me (at least in the case of a tricked out laptop)… Work… etc. 

I’m sure there is a price point line of reasoning that says, that an XBOX as an entertainment-only device in a household with multiple people who need to be productive/entertained isn’t a bad economic deal over buying a second or third full computer but that price point difference is dropping. 

What does it all mean? To me it means that this isn’t a bad idea for Microsoft to offer as much stuff as possible with XBOX as long as it is a relevant platform.  Likewise, I think it is great for ESPN to have as many channels to its audience as possible – especially since ESPN3.com generally covers secondary events that don’t make the grade for the main ESPN channels.  If XBOX is another way to feature things like Mountain West Football, Coca-Cola Championship soccer matches, and Cricket competitions, then it is worth it for ESPN to get every dime possible out of those properties.  I AM curious to know what the financial arrangement is – does ESPN get money per XBOX Live subscriber like they would from a cable company? Is it somehow related to that user actually choosing ESPN content somehow? Ultimately though, in the long run, I don’t think this means that much because I don’t think XBOX (or PlayStation or Wii) are too much longer for this world.  There’s just no reason to continue paying for so many systems when the content/games that they provide can be delivered more efficiently and effectively from one.


 

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