Microsoft plans original Xbox TV shows for 2014

Microsoft’s president of entertainment and digital, Nancy Tellem told attendees of an industry event that they hope to launch their own original, Xbox Live exclusive TV shows in Q1 or Q2 2014, Variety reports.

Microsoft’s plans include a Halo television series, with award-winning filmmaker, director and producer, Steven Spielberg on board as executive-producer. There is also talk of exclusive interactive Xbox One Halo content, created in partnership with game developer 343 Industries and Xbox Entertainment Studios.

For american football fans, Microsoft has a multi-year partnership which will deliver interactive NFL television the Xbox One and leverage Microsoft devices and services, including Skype, Xbox SmartGlass, and player-worn technology.

Tellem has a history in CBS and CW network TV planning and integration with their websites. “I was always looking for the next thing. Technology and the transition that was taking place was incredibly interesting to me. It’s very exciting for me to be in this position right now and see how the business model evolves and how content evolves,” said Tellem.

Speaking of the difficulty in presenting Xbox Live as a viable platform for original shows, Tellem said that the lack of an existing content production business model for consoles is challenging. “We aren’t Netflix, we aren’t Amazon, we’re a different animal . . . As we continue to do deals everyone’s going to get more comfortable.”

“Depending on the piece of content, the deals change. We’re talking about exclusives, exclusive first windows, exclusive second windows. We play a lot with windows and co-production arrangements [and] whether we feel these are ideas are franchise building or we can own completely,” said Tellem.