Rogers Communications is taking Mad Men to the home of Call of Duty.
In the latest iteration of its ongoing “TV Anywhere” strategy, Rogers announced Monday that it has partnered with Microsoft to bring its on-demand TV product to the Xbox 360 game system through the latter’s Xbox Live service. It marks the first time that the Rogers On Demand service has been offered on a game console.
“We feel strongly that Rogers Cable has to evolve from being a cable TV operator to a TV-and-entertainment-everywhere provider,” said Dave Purdy, vice-president of video products for Rogers Communications.
The partnership includes approximately 1,500 hours of content at launch, but Purdy said he expects that to grow to 15,000 hours “very quickly,” as Rogers continues to negotiate with studios, sports leagues and TV networks.
“Some of them are embracing it and seeing that it’s a great way to make their products relevant to a whole group of young people that may be spending too much time watching cats on skateboards on YouTube,” said Purdy.
The partnership will make TV content from Citytv, CBC and CBC News Network available to Microsoft’s Xbox Live Gold subscribers through a downloadable app. It will also use Microsoft’s Kinect product to make the content searchable and accessible through voice and/or gesture-based technology.
“If you’re going to be adopting a ‘TV anywhere’ strategy, you have to be anywhere,” said Purdy. “You can’t pick and choose a platform; you have to let them decide what platform they want to consume content on.”
Purdy said that the deal – and the “TV Anywhere” approach – recognizes the changing face of TV consumption. “There’s an entire segment of the population that consumes media differently than their parents or grandparents did, and we want them to think of Rogers when they think of entertainment, the same way their parents did,” he said.
Glenn Purkis, product manager for Xbox Live in Toronto, said the partnership with Rogers recognizes the continuing evolution of the Xbox 360 from a gaming console to an entertainment device.
The Xbox Live service currently has an estimated 35 million worldwide users who spend more than two billion hours a month with the service. While online gaming for franchises such as the military-themed Call of Duty is incredibly popular, Purkis said that the top 10 uses of the service also include both social media apps and video streaming.
“We know there’s a great appetite for more entertainment content, and that’s exactly what we’re trying to capture,” said Purkis. “These are the types of experiences that give you more for your Xbox.”
The partnership is being promoted in video ads for the Xbox 360, while Rogers is also promoting the service through in-bill messaging and U.S. ad avails.
Netflix and Microsoft’s Zune digital content distribution service are currently available on the Xbox 360.
