Monday, November 5, 2007

Xbox Live to sport ESPN content

ESPN is the latest media company bringing its content to the mostly young male aud of Microsoft's Xbox Live.

Disney-owned sports net is bringing a broad array of sporting events and programming to the service, through which users can download video onto the Xbox 360 vidgame console.

Content going to Xbox Live includes college football and basketball games, Summer X Games, "The World Series of Poker" and videogame reality show "Madden Nation."

All of the programming also is available for download on Apple's iTunes. A small portion of the video, including NCAA games, will be available to download in high definition via Xbox Live, which is the only digital download service with high-def content.

"Establishing this relationship with Microsoft on Xbox 360 provides an innovative way to reach our target demographic," said Matt Murphy, senior veep of digital video distribution for Disney and ESPN Media Networks.

ESPN sibling the Walt Disney Studios started making its movies available for digital rental on Xbox Live this summer. Other media companies on the service include CBS, MTV Networks, New Line, Paramount and Warner Bros.