Foxtel on Xbox 360 just in time for Foxboxmas

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Monday, 08 November 2010 17:35

Your IT - Entertainment

Ah, just in time for the busy end-of-year, Christmas sales season comes yet another delightful way for consumers to entertain themselves and spend money: watching a range of Foxtel channels on your Xbox 360, with the roll-out having finally begun today!

After a traditional pre-announcement where both Foxtel and Microsoft spent some time saying how wonderful they thought the other company was, and how the whiz bang new streaming TV solution they'd shortly be offering would be the bees knees, the waiting period has ended and the Foxbox360 viewing has begun!

The original announcement came last month, in October, which said that there would be a 'selection of packages and ways of viewing Foxtel on Xbox 360', and that 'Xbox 360 owners will be able to choose from a selection of channel packages that will start from $19.50 for a month's subscription, or if preferred, simply choose a pay as you go option, where they will be able to choose and pay for one-off viewings of their favourite TV shows and films.'

Now, even though Foxtel on Xbox 360 has begun its rollout, it doesn't mean all Foxtel and Xbox 360 users can subscribe as yet.

The roll-out will happen 'across the country' by Foxtel 'over the week, with the majority of Xbox 360 owners able to access it by Friday 12th November'. Foxtel advises that the service is 'only available to Xbox 360 owners who live in Foxtel areas of Australia and who subscribe to both the Xbox Live service and the Foxtel on Xbox 360 service, with an Xbox Live subscription required for all live TV packages.'

An official launch event is due on Wednesday the 10th of November, where a demonstration will, as expected, be given.

So if Xbox itself isn't enough for your box, Foxtel stands ready to find its way to your TV through means other than solely HFC cable or satellite transmission, instead over your Internet connection (which could be cable, ADSL or something else) and through your Xbox 360 into your TV.

It helps the Xbox 360 offer more of the same kinds of televisual features US Xbox 360 owners have enjoyed for some time, and will undoubtedly boost the Xbox 360's and Foxtel's stocks amongst the public in Australia, and boost profits nicely too, as Microsoft fights competitors on the console front, and Foxtel fights the growing number of free-to-air channels, outright piracy and DVD sales.