Sky and Xbox 360 officially team up to transformTV

Xbox 360 joins forces with Sky to offer first ever console-based live TV service

LONDON & DUBLIN - 28 May 2009: Millions of entertainment fans will
soon have the way they watch TV transformed, as Xbox 360 and Sky
announce a ground-breaking partnership which will enable, for the first
time ever, premium live television to be watched through a games
console.

In a UK and Ireland first, Sky Player, Sky’s online TV service, will
come to Xbox LIVE in the autumn, allowing Xbox owners to access a range
of channels and programmes to either view live or on-demand.

Details of the full channel line-up will be revealed closer to launch,
but it is anticipated that Xbox LIVE users will be able to access
blockbuster movies, must-see entertainment shows, thought-provoking
documentaries, programming dedicated to kids, music and the arts, as
well as all the excitement of Premier League football, Test Match
cricket and a wide variety of other sports through Sky Sports.

The news, officially unveiled today in Central London by Sky Sports
News Georgie Thompson, reveals there will be a number of viewing
options.

For a new customer joining Sky through their Xbox, Sky Player will
offer a wide range of live channels and on-demand content via a number
of different packages. These customers will also be able to access
their favourite shows on a pay-per-view basis.

Existing Sky customers who already own an Xbox will benefit from
another way to view their favourite shows, in addition to their Sky
set-top box and PC or Mac

There will be a range of unique interactive services available to the
Xbox LIVE / Sky Player offering. For Sky Sports, for example, this will
mean that live coverage will be supported by range of applications to
enhance the viewing experience further. As well as fans being able to
communicate with one another in real time via their broadband
connections, they will also be able to check news and access fixtures,
league tables and other on-demand information. Interactive applications
will also be developed across other programmes genres.

Stephen Nuttall, Director of Sky’s Commercial Group comments:” Our
partnership with Xbox is a further example of our commitment to put
choice and control in the hands of customers. Xbox owners now have a
range of ways to access Sky content and can pick and choose the
platform and packages that are right for them. We are extremely excited
about the opportunity of reaching Xbox owners who are looking to
experience Sky for the first time, as well as giving our existing
customers yet another way to experience the content they love.”

Echoing this, Neil Thompson, Head of Xbox UK and Ireland, adds: “Our
customers have told us that they want the opportunity to use their
consoles as a way to access TV and once again Xbox has pulled off an
entertainment first with amazing content and rich interactive
experience. The combination of Sky’s leadership in content creation and
aggregation and our own in creating a constantly evolving new
generation of rich 360 entertainment experiences means we are one step
closer to our goal of offering Xbox owners the best entertainment
experiences out there, whether it’s movies, music, games, interactive
experiences or high quality TV.”

Sky Player joins Xbox LIVE’s ever-expanding interactive online offering
spanning on-demand films, music videos and games. It also enables users
to communicate with each other via live video chat and MSN Messenger,
beating console rivals to cement Xbox 360 as a true pioneer of home
entertainment.

Sky Player currently provides access to a range of live TV channels –
including Sky Sports – and a comprehensive on-demand library of
thousands of programmes spanning entertainment, movies, documentaries,
kids, culture, news and sport.

- Ends -

For press information, please contact:
Andy Irving / 0118 9094599 / i-anirvi@microsoft.com

About Sky Player TV
Sky Player TV was launched in December 2008 as a dedicated online
subscription TV service, providing an alternative way to subscribe to
Sky TV, without the need to subscribe to an existing TV-based service.
It built upon the success of Sky Player, which launched in 2006 as a
bonus service for Sky’s Direct-to-Home (DTH) customer base, allowing
Sky customers to access live channels and on-demand content via their
computers. It currently provides access to the likes of Sky Sports, Sky
Movies, Sky News, The History Channel, National Geographic, the BBC,
G.O.L.D, Eden, MTV ONE, Sky1, Disney Channel and Nickelodeon, among
others.

About Sky
Sky is the UK’s leading entertainment and communications company,
operating the most comprehensive multi-channel television service. Over
9.3 million homes - a third of households across the UK and Ireland -
enjoy the very best entertainment, movies, news and sports channels on
Sky Digital. In delivering entertainment through the TV, PC and mobile,
customers have more control and flexibility over what, how and when
they watch.

Over 5 million customers now choose Sky+, Sky’s digital video recorder,
to record and store their favourite programmes and over a million homes
enjoy the unprecedented picture and sound quality of Sky+HD, which
offers 33 dedicated HD channels. Sky is also the UK’s fastest growing
broadband and fixed-telephony provider with over 2 million customers
taking Sky Broadband and just under 1.7 million customers taking Sky
Talk.

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