Though the prospect of watching Sky TV through your Xbox 360 is a very exciting one indeed, the recent launch of Sky Player on the games console has been one fraught with problems.

As such, the media giant is looking to revise the service, making it available to customers gradually as they learn to manage the enormous demand which crippled the Sky Player upon it's initial launch.

The new revised model will see the service available first to "ten of thousands" of customers a day, with that rough figure gradually rising as problems and bugs are addressed.

Sky have said "We are taking this phased approach to ensure that consumers experience a high-quality experience. The Sky team has contacted the affected Sky Player TV subscribers on Xbox directly with further updates."

The long-planned partnership between Sky and Xbox 360 goes live today. Xbox Live Gold members can pick up 24 Sky digital channels for a monthly subscription charge of £15. Alternatively, those who already have a Sky subscription can get the service for free, providing they have an Xbox Live Gold membership.

"Today our customers enjoy film, music, videos and games on Xbox 360 and TV is another significant step forward in our entertainment vision," Microsoft UK's Neil Thompson stated.

"And now Xbox owners will have the variety and volume of entertainment along with unique services such as the avatar community which allow you to share, celebrate and chat - it is clear that Xbox 360 is taking entertainment beyond the living room with unique social interactive entertainment experiences."

As well as being able to watch TV with pals and interact through your Xbox Live avatars, premium upgrade bundles such as Sky Sports and Sky Movies will be available at additional cost.

It's a nice new feature for Xbox Live Gold subscribers, but bear in mind that an internet connection of 6-8 mbps will be necessary to avoid the buffering blues.

New figures released by Sky claim to show Sky+HD boxes sold at a rate of one every 30 seconds between the months of July and September.

With the public preferring a cosy night in during these wallet-whacking times, Sky has seen subscriptions to its HD service rise to 1.6 million. That's on top of the 6 million who already own a standard Sky+ box.

The number of HD channels is also set to rise to 35, with the introduction of Sky Movies Indie HD on Monday.

Good news for Sky users. A year and half after it first announced its intention to launch a digital music service, Sky Songs will go live next week. It appears that the delay has largely been due to the fact that it has taken a long time to sign up all the major music labels.

The best bit is that Sky subscribers get a free album if they sign up for a trial. It is also a fairly competitive service with individual tracks selling for 65p each - which is cheaper than many of Sky's rivals.

Alternatively for £6.49 or £7.99 per month Sky offers unlimited streaming plus 10 or 15 free MP3 downloads depending on which price plan the user chooses.

The only real drawback is that with four million tunes Sky's services is a lot smaller than many of its rivals.

Sky will be launching a HD version of their popular news channel, to be broadcast alongside the current, standard definition, version from Spring 2010.

To coincide with the launch Sky will be updating their studios and production facilities, so expect an even more Starship Enterprise looking set with an ever increasing, and seemingly unneeded, array of computer graphics.

Sky HD currently has over a million subscribers and has been aggressively promoting the service in recent months. They are currently offering the box to new customers for a mere £49, free set-up, plus £50 worth of Tesco's vouchers. It costs an additional £9.75 a month to subscribe to the HD channels, but it's still pretty good value. Sky may even drop this additional subscription price in the future, as they did with the Sky+ fee.

The announcement will also put a bit of pressure on Freesat, who currently only offer two HD channels - BBC and ITV. Sky in comparison, has over 30.

In America, the big networks, like Sky's cousin Fox, already broadcast their news in HD, sort of. Everything in the studio is HD but films taken outside, which could be argued is the news, is not always filmed in HD. Sky is planning to make all of their coverage, wherever possible, HD.

Sounds like exciting stuff, although the thought of Eamonn Holmes in HD at 7.30 in the morning is enough to put me off my Weetabix.

(via Broadcast Now)

Microsoft and BSkyB have formally unveiled Sky Player for Xbox 360, Sky's TV service for the Microsoft console.

The service launches later this year and will offer a range of linear TV channels, as well as a library of on-demand content. A number of subscription packages will be available, as will the opportunity to access programming on a pay-per-view basis.

Xbox owners who already have a Sky TV subscription will be able to access Sky Player's on-demand services through their console, in addition to their PC or Mac.

The service will also allow users to IM each other, check news, access fixtures and any other on-demand information.

BSkyB wouldn't say whether the deal with Microsoft was exclusive, although sources said that this is unlikely.

Similar deals could eventually be struck with Sony's PlayStation 3, Nintendo's Wii and Project Canvas, the appallingly named catch-up TV service in development by the BBC, ITV and BT.

(Via TechCrunch)

Two services that require you to stick a satellite dish to the side of your house.

One has been around for two decades, the other has just celebrated its first birthday.

Both will demand an upfront payment: one will continue to drain money from your bank account each month.

So which is best? Read our comparison guide to see if you should go with coming-of-age Sky or new-kid-on-the-block Freesat.

Read on to find out...

Sky has confirmed that they will be adding 3D functionality to their + HD satellite receiver boxes and, in slightly better if less solid news, the BBC has dropped an anvil of a hint suggesting that iPlayer will be getting a dedicated HD channel next month.

Sky tested out the service after recording episodes of Gladiators in 3D - oh, if only Jet were still involved - and has now decided that customers could see it in their homes by the end of the year.

The well reported downside is that they expect people to buy and then not lose/sit on polarized glasses. Good luck with that one Rupert.

Panasonic launched not one but two dual-tuner Freesat HD Blu-ray PVRs yesterday at their shindig over in Amsterdam, making the DMR-BS850 and BS750 the first of their kind in the UK.

No prices as yet - something pretty hefty, I'd imagine - but in May you can expect a pair of machines that'll allow you to watch and record satellite content, HD channels and record onto Blu-ray discs if you really want to as well.

Sky has decided that it's time to get really aggressive when it comes to high definition in the UK, and to that end has slashed the price of its Sky+HD box to just £49. That's a third of the price it was early last year (£150) and is the satellite broadcaster's hope of getting many more subscribers hooked on pay-for-HD.

In fact, thanks to a lot of enticing marketing and the lure of a variety of sports, films and other content in high definition, Sky has just had its best quarter -- in the three months to the end of December, 188,000 people signed up for high-def services, taking the total number of subscribers to nearly 800,000.

Patrick McGoohan, made famous by his role in bewildering 60s sci-fi escapology show The Prisoner, died on Tuesday, aged 80.

He was great in Danger Man, made his name in The Prisoner, then continued to deliver entertainment beyond the call of duty by directing and starring in numerous episodes of Columbo between the 1970s and his last directorial appearance in 2000.

Every Saturday we scan the satellite TV listings hoping a McGoohan-based episode of the shambling cop show will be on. And you can never go wrong watching him in Scanners. It is terribly sad news. He really didn't make enough films and TV shows considering his mesmerising acting skills.

Since Freessat's May launch, one notable absentee from the channel line-up was Five.

Due to a contract with Sky, the broadcaster wasn't able to commit to Freesat straight away, but from Tuesday 18th November it takes up residence on channel 105.

Five has advanced a lot since the early days of bad reception and seedy porn (well, the reception's better at least). Its autumn schedule includes Paul Merton in India, 1968 Unseen, Dangerous Adventures for Boys, Unbreakable and Axe Men.

The long-running dispute between Sky and Virgin Media over carriage charges, and the dropping of channels from each other's platform, may have finally come to an end as the two companies agree new channel carriage agreements.

Obviously still rivals that tend to disagree on most things, subscribers can now enjoy programmes from "the other side". From 13th November, Virgin Media gets back Sky1 and Sky2 (available on "L" TV package), Sky3 and Sky News (on "M" TV package), and Sky Sports News, Sky Arts 1, Sky Arts 2, Sky Real Lives and Sky Real Lives 2 (available on "XL" TV package), while Virgin Media has agreed to keep Living, Living 2, Bravo, Bravo 2, Challenge and Virgin 1 on the Sky "Variety" platform, with Trouble on the "Children's" pack.

Both deals are secured until at least 12th June 2011, and both companies have agreed to drop their High Court proceedings against each other.

Finally.

Related posts: Sky to bid on Tiscali broadband | Virgin Media 50Mbps broadband coming soon?

Freesat, keen to join the likes of Freeview+ and Sky+ in offering DVR capability on its platform, has announced that Freesat+ will be available from mid-November.

When a suitably-equipped digibox is connected to the satellite feed, full DVR functionality is offered, including pausing and recording live TV, detailed channel guides, series recording, and so on.

Freesat has announced that it has sold over 100,000 set top boxes and integrated TVs, via its various authorised manufacturers, since it launched just under five months ago.

While that means it's still a very small player compared to the likes of Sky and terrestrial Freeview, it's an encouraging start, particularly as there hasn't been a huge amount of advertising for the service.

Staring from September 15 you'll be able to scrutinise the skin of your favourite pop star in more detail than ever before, as MTV and its parent company Viacom launch an HD music channel for quite a chunk of Europe.

The new channel is called MTVNHD, a pretty complex yet descriptive way of saying MTV Networks High Definition. Initially shaming Britney Spears in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Poland and Sweden, the channel will feature "new music" and "programming for kids," all in English-language to make churning out "content" easier on the hard-working production teams.

Free-to-air digital satellite service Freesat has announced the addition of six more channels to its line-up.

Top of the pile is BET UK. No, not a gambling channel, but Black Entertainment Television, which is America's leading provider of African-American cultural programmes, including music, lifestyle, and public affairs.

Also added is Zone Horror + 1 (which is probably just the Zone Horror channel timeshifted by one hour), a public service channel called Information TV, Kix! aimed at 8-15 year-old boys, and Celebrity Shop and Simply Shopping which, predictably, are shopping channels.

Emma Scott, Freesat's MD, said, "Freesat is committed to providing viewers with the best of free-to-air programming and a diverse choice, with something for everyone. BET is a huge brand name in the US and its style and range of programming will be tremendously popular with viewers in the UK. In addition, a channel like Kix! brings an exciting style of kids TV programming onto the platform."

The new channels will launch tomorrow, Friday 8th August. Full information after the jump.

Nearly three months after freesat's launch, the free-to-air satellite broadcaster has announced 18 new channels will be added to the platform in the next couple of weeks.

This Thursday, ten TV channels will launch: Zone Reality, Zone Horror, Russia Today, The Fight Network, Inspiration, PitchWorld, Gems TV, Shop on tV, Netplay TV, and Gala TV.

Yes, folks, the shopping and quiz/gambling channels continue their insidious infiltration onto every network known to man.

There's one big problem with freesat - the big dish is still required. Which is where the SelfSat Flat Antenna comes in.

It's a HD-compatible flat antenna, which will receive all satellite free-to-view channels (and encrypted channels with an appropriate set-top box) without the need for a bin lid on the side of the house. Instead, you get a subtle/slim antenna, which you can also customise to your home, should you see fit - including flowers or the design of your local football team apparently.

Available now, it's priced at £149.

Satellite Shop

Related posts: Sqish & Sqishoflage - your new satellite dish and the art of disguise | freesat goes live across the UK

There's something very Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade about this nifty optical illusion for hiding your satellite receiver.

Technically speaking, the "The Sqish", as it's known, refers to the cuboid-shaped alternative to a satellite dish, as seen here, but the Sqishoflagen is the disguising sticker that sits on top of it.

Whatever the case, the standard Sqish looks a hell of a lot better than those nasty, black, mesh frisbees adorning most people's brickwork and they're good for receiving from all mid and high-powered satellites, which means you can pick up both Sky and Freesat in the UK.