By David Ward
Thu Aug 30, 2:38 AM ET
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) -
20th Century Fox has
struck a deal with
Microsoft Corp. to make the first two
seasons of the animated series "
Family Guy" available for
downloads on the
Xbox Live service beginning Monday.
"Family Guy" represents the first Fox product to make it
onto Xbox, which lacks an overall deal with the News
Corp.-owned studio. In the battle of the electronic
sell-through outlets, score one for Xbox over main rival
iTunes, which hasn't yet landed rights to "Family."
"This is our first one," said Jamie McCabe, executive vp at
20th Century Fox. "We hope to have other content on there, but
right now with the launch of 'Halo 3' and the launch of the new
season of 'Family Guy' coming out, the timing really worked
well for this one."
Noting the popularity of "Family" among males 18-34 --
which also happens to be the sweet spot for the gaming industry
-- he added, "It's about as perfect a demographic fit as we can
get."
Xbox 360 owners will be able to purchase each of the
episodes from the first two seasons as well as the
straight-to-DVD film "Family Guy Presents Stewie Griffin: The
Untold Story" for 160 Microsoft points, or about $2, which is
comparable with the pricing of TV episodes on iTunes and other
VOD platforms.
In addition to being its initial foray into Xbox, this also
is first time the Seth MacFarlane-created series about the
irreverent Griffin clan has been available for downloads on any
platform, McCabe said.
Along with the debut of new episodes of the show, Fox also
is set to release the "Family Guy Season Five" DVD on September
18, but McCabe said there is little concern that the Xbox
downloads will impact those sales.
"It's a different market and a different consumer," he
said. "'Family' has been a phenomenon on DVD, and that audience
will continue to buy it."
Since its formal launch as a provider of movies and TV
content in November, Microsoft has aggressively built out the
Xbox content offerings as it looks to position the Xbox 360
console as the home-entertainment hub for the living room.
Among the content providers for the Live service are Warner
Bros., Paramount, the Walt Disney Co., New Line, Lionsgate,
Miramax, MTV, Turner Broadcasting and the Ultimate Fighting
Championship.
"It's a great interface, and they're definitely doing all
they can to support this content," McCabe said.
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
