Microsoft's Pay TV Service Gains Ground, More Talks Under Way

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It’s a great time to be a home theater buff, folks, so grab your popcorn, put on your heftiest robe and slippers and put your feet up, because the folks at Microsoft are looking to put still more punch into your home theater offerings.

We know that Microsoft’s been working with Comcast and Verizon FIOS about getting their television offerings onto Xbox Live, as pictured in the custom graphic above. But now, there are reports that Microsoft’s talks have expanded substantially, and the word at last report is that they’ve got a whole lot–two dozen by some reports–of at least tentatively interested parties looking to sign on as well.

Just some of the new parties include Time Warner’s own HBO, Sony’s Crackle service, and NBC Universal’s Bravo network. This by itself opens up a few interesting spins on the situation, because if Time Warner is offering up HBO, that’s going to put the so-called “HBO Rule” (in which movies cannot be distributed or sold online while they’re on HBO, a holdover from a whole different time) in Microsoft’s favor. Plus, if NBC Universal decides to bring its catalog over, that’s going to do some damage at Hulu, as well as provide a bundle of movies. Crackle, meanwhile, will get much broader exposure and offer up plenty of content in its own right.

And all of this content is going to go up in front of Microsoft’s substantial Xbox 360 user base, which for its part is a major source for gamers, and a leading force in the console market. Some have wondered about console gaming’s long-term viability in the face of casual gaming and PC gaming, and expanding the user base to include a complete home theater solution may well put those issues to rest.

This is an interesting situation no matter how you slice it. With Dish Network steadily expanding its offerings, and Microsoft possibly looking to score one for the cable cutters, the home theater industry is about to get some serious boosts, by the look of it.

But what do you guys think? Would you make Microsoft your go-to service over its various competitors? For the cable cutters out there, would this be useful for you, especially if you already have an Xbox 360? Either way, we want to hear from you, so hit the comments section and tell us what you think!