News and Industry Happenings

BBC and LOVEFiLM Head to XBL

Microsoft has announced a strong line-up of media partners for Xbox Live with the BBC, LOVEFiLM, Channel 4 and Channel 5 all coming to UK gamers, with HBO and Bravo heading to the US.

The new deal includes nearly 40 partners worldwide, bringing paid and free services to markets including Europe, Australia, Japan and Mexico.

Here’s the full list (includes new and existing services):

ABC iView – Australia

AlloCiné – France, Germany, Spain, U.K.

Antena 3 – Spain

Astral Media’s Disney XD – Canada

AT&T – U.S.

BBC – U.K.

blinkbox – U.K.

Bravo – U.S.

BSkyB – U.K.

Canal – France, Spain

Channel 4 – U.K.

Channel 5 – U.K.

CinemaNow (Best Buy) – U.S.

Comcast – U.S.

Crackle – Australia, Canada, U.K., U.S.

Dailymotion – Available in 32 markets

EPIX – U.S.

ESPN – U.S.

Facebook – Available in all 35 Xbox LIVE markets

FOXTEL – Australia

GolTV – Spain

HBO GO – U.S.

Hulu – Japan

Hulu – U.S.

iHeartRadio (Clear Channel) – U.S.

Last.fm – U.K., U.S.

LOVEFiLM – Germany, U.K.

Manga Entertainment – U.S.

Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment/Real Sports – Canada

MediaSet – Italy

MSN with MSNBC.com – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Spain, U.K.

MUZU.TV – France, Germany, Italy, Spain, U.K.

Netflix – Canada, U.S.

Rogers On Demand Online (RODO) – Canada

RTVE – Spain

SBS On Demand – Australia

Syfy – U.S.

Telefonica – Spain

Televisa – Mexico

"The Today Show" – U.S.

TELUS – Canada

TMZ – U.S.

Twitter – Available in all 35 Xbox LIVE markets

UFC – Canada, U.S.

Verizon – U.S.

VEVO – Canada, U.K., U.S.

VimpelCom** – Russia

Vodafone Portugal – Portugal

YouTube – Available in 22 markets

ZDF – Germany

Zune – Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Norway, SpainThe addition of the BBC, Channel 4 and LOVEFiLM makes XBL a very enticing option now, but we still don’t know if it will be in the form of iPlayer and 4OD. Watch this space.

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Chella Ramanan

Chella hails from the UK and joined Gameindustry.com around the year 2000. It was so many moons ago, she can't quite remember. Back then, the only women you saw in the games industry were in bikinis and vertiginous heels at trade shows - oh how times have changed, kind of. Chella started as a humble reviewer, but soon became our European Correspondent and keeps us on top of industry happenings across the Pond. She tends to like the weird Japanese games we've never heard of, so that's good for making us look all-encompassing and stuff. Chella does like games, so don't be fooled by the copious amount of columns devoted to bemoaning the lack of variety in the industry. When she's not surfing (the sea, not the internet) or camping up mountains, Chella likes a good action RPG (especially if it's sci-fi), anything with a good narrative and like we said, the weirder the better. She's also a regular in the GiN Lounge, but that's just because we like her accent.