Verizon said Tuesday it has launched its FiOS TV app for the Xbox One, offering authenticated access to 74 live TV channels (see listing further down) to owners of the new console who also pony up for a Xbox Live Gold subscription.
The launch comes a little more than five weeks after Microsoft identified FiOS TV as one of 19 entertainment apps that would be released on the new $499 Xbox One between the console’s November 22 launch and next spring. Others that are of that initial wave include HBO GO, FXNow, Fox Now, Crackle, Hulu Plus, Netflix, Redbox Instant by Verizon, Target Ticket, Vudu, and ESPN.
Verizon is the first and so far only U.S. pay-TV operator to launch an app on the Xbox One.
Rogers Communications is launching its authenticated app, Rogers Anyplace TV, on the console as well. Time Warner Cable offers an app on the Xbox 360, but has not announced when its TWC TV app will land on the new Microsoft console. The Xbox One “is a clear target for us,” Matthew Zelesko, TWC’s senior vice president, converged technology group, told Multichannel News in a recent interview (subscription required).
The Xbox One also supports an HDMI pass-through feature that lets users bring the full TV lineup (but not access to DVR recordings) by tethering the console to a traditional set-top box.
“Gaming consoles have evolved into digital entertainment hubs, and partnering with Microsoft breaks down technology barriers and maximizes the value and enjoyment FiOS customers get from FiOS and their Xbox One,” said John Wimsatt, Verizon’s vice president of product development, in a relase. “This is just the latest step we at Verizon are taking to deliver on the vision we have for our customers -- anything they want, on any device, anytime, anywhere.”
Microsoft announced last week that it had sold more than 2 million Xbox One consoles since its launch, putting it a step behind the $399 PlayStation 4, which debuted on November 15.
