[Satellite Today 05-29-09] Microsoft and Sky Television have signed a deal that will allow users in the United Kingdom and Ireland to watch BskyB satellite TV via an application on Microsoft Xbox 360 game consoles, Microsoft announced May 28.
    The new application, Sky Player, will be launched on Xbox 360 in the fall and will feature live and on-demand channels. Microsoft said the list of available channels would be released at a later date.
    Financial details of the contract were not revealed.
    Separately, Microsoft announced that sales of Xbox 360 game consoles have passed 30 million , with more than 20 million members using its Xbox Live service. The company said it expects growth to continue throughout 2009 due to hardware sales increasing 28 percent so far this year — far outpacing competitors Nintendo and Sony.