I miss the Indian Head Test Card. Credit: Bethesda Softworks
I miss the Indian Head Test Card.

Back in October I reported on Microsoft’s plan to turn the Xbox 360 into a media hub. Streaming video, music; the company basically wants the gaming machine to become a viable replacement for the cable box. At that time, information was limited, but with the next Xbox 360 Dashboard Update scheduled for tomorrow, Microsoft has finally offered word on when you’ll be seeing the various content providers’ shows on your console.

Hit the jump for a comprehensive schedule.

From Microsoft’s official press release:

Dec. 6:
EPIX. United States
ESPN on Xbox LIVE (ESPN). United States
Hulu. Japan
Hulu Plus. United States
LOVEFiLM. United Kingdom
Netflix. Canada, United States
Premium Play by (MediaSet). Italy
Sky Go (SkyDE). Germany
Telefónica España — Movistar Imagenio. Spain
TODAY (MSNBC). United States

Later in December:
4 on Demand (C4). United Kingdom
ABC iView (Australian Broadcasting Corp.). Australia
AlloCiné. France (AlloCiné), Germany (Filmstarts), Spain (Sensacine), United Kingdom (Screenrush)
Astral Media’s Disney XD (Astral Media). Canada
blinkbox (Blinkbox). United Kingdom
Crackle (Sony Pictures). Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, United States
Dailymotion. Available in 32 countries globally
Demand 5 (Five). United Kingdom
DIGI+ (CANAL+). Spain
GolTV (Mediapro). Spain
iHeartRadio (Clear Channel). United States
Mediathek/ZDF (ZDF). Germany
MSN. Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, United Kingdom
MSNBC.com. United States
MUZU.TV. Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom
ninemsn. Australia
Real Sports (Maple Leaf Sports). Canada
Rogers On Demand Online (Rogers Media). Canada
SBS ON DEMAND.Australia
Sky Go (SkyDE). Austria
TMZ (Warner Bros.). Canada, United States
TVE (RTVE.es). Spain
UFC on Xbox LIVE (UFC). Canada, United States
Verizon FiOS TV. United States
VEVO. Canada, Ireland, United Kingdom, United States
Vudu (Wal-Mart). United States
YouTube. Available in 24 countries globally

Early 2012:
Antena 3 (Antena 3 de Televisión). Spain
BBC (BBC). United Kingdom
CinemaNow (Best Buy). United States
HBO GO (HBO). United States
MLB.TV (MLB Advanced Media). Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Columbia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, United Kingdom, United States
Telenovelas/Sports (Televisa). Brazil, Chile, Colombia, France, Italy, Mexico, Spain, United Kingdom
Xfinity On Demand (Comcast). United States

The cool bit is that as far as anyone knows, all this content is going to be available for free (barring, obviously, stuff like Hulu Plus that requires its own stupid subscription fees) to all Xbox Live Gold members. Yay?

Decide for yourselves is this is rad. I’m too in love with streaming Netflix to have an opinion.

8 replies on “Tomorrow, Your Xbox Becomes A Cable Box”

  2. Wait, can someone explain this to me a bit better?

    We have comcast internet + a wii. 100% of the wii’s usage is for netflix, and I’ll periodically connect a laptop to the tv to stream non-netflix content.

    The classic stumbling block (to me) making cable still desirable is live sports. If anyone cracks the live sports nut, they’ll be the winners.

    So: is this real ESPN, or this just the bullshit ESPN that just has a bunch of stupid clips available on it?

    How much is an X-box? X-box Live Gold?

  3. While we won’t know the exact details until the update hits tomorrow, the ESPN iteration that has been available on the Xbox 360 for the past few months is sort of an amalgam of the various ESPN TV networks. It shows live games, highlights and stores a ton of the games as video-on-demand content so you can watch it later.

    The cool bit is that it isn’t just basketball and football either. I’ve spent a totally unreasonable amount of time watching Korean Taekwondo tournaments on the service.

    Like I said, I don’t exactly what it’s going to look like, but so far it’s a damn solid sports “network” — even if it lacks the comforting omnipresence of full Sportscenter episodes.

  4. @CC: IF YOU SHOP THE DEALS, YOU CAN GET THE CHEAPEST XBOX FOR UNDER $200. WHEN YOU BUY IT BY THE YEAR, XBOX LIVE GOLD COSTS ABOUT $5 PER MONTH.

    WATCHING LIVE SPORTS REQUIRES HAVING TNT, NOT JUST ESPN.

  5. I have been in the beta for this for the past month. Don’t get your hopes up. The ESPN app is the only one that seems to be streaming “cable” content, and it is fundamentally unchanged from the ESPN app that has been available for over a year now. It’s essentially ESPN3, streamed to your box. The list you provide of upcoming channels doesn’t seem to be adding much in the way of cable-box-killing content.

  6. @jetglue, thanks that’s exactly what I needed to know. I can already hook up the laptop to the tv to watch ESPN3, or MLBTV. Hockey on the Rogers network wouldn’t be a bad addition, but I’m not buying an xbox for it.

  7. @ CC: Oh god no. This is not a reason to buy a new console. But if you’ve already got the Xbox 360, it’s a neat addition.

  8. So … nothing new is being added to the US that matters it would seem, other than the some home shopping/advertising channels and iHeartRadio?

    You already have ESPN, Hulu+ and Netflix on the XBox in the US. Since these all require existing subscriptions to the service, I really don’t see this as all that impressive.

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