Xbox Live movie downloads up 400%

Increase since launch makes site No. 2 behind iTunes

By Jennifer Netherby -- Video Business, 3/15/2007

MARCH 15 | Microsoft says movie and TV show downloads through its Xbox Live Marketplace are up 400% since they began selling in November, making Xbox Live the No. 2 download site behind iTunes, the company said.

Microsoft isn’t giving actual download numbers, so it’s unclear how many movie and TV show episodes it has sold.

Xbox Live Marketplace allows Xbox 360 users to download movie and TV show rentals to their system for playback on the TV.

ITunes leads the paid video download market, with a 90% share in the third quarter of last year, according to the latest numbers from research firm NPD Group. Although that number has likely shifted some following new download stores launched by Microsoft, Wal-mart and others, iTunes is still expected to lead by a wide margin.

The overall download market remains small, however. Last week, Walt Disney Co. chief Bob Iger said the studio had sold roughly 2 million movies and 20 million TV shows on iTunes since the site added movies to its video lineup in October. ITunes offers movie downloads from Disney, Paramount Pictures and Lionsgate and TV downloads from all the major networks and cable outlets.

Microsoft offers movie and TV show downloads from Warner Bros., Paramount, Lionsgate, MTV, CBS, NBC and others. The site also offers high-definition downloads, the only download site to offer high-def downloads from major studios.

Last week, Comedy Central and Microsoft began offering the first high-definition download of South Park to users for free for two weeks.

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