Xbox Live TV channel under consideration

When news of Conan O'Brien's shock deal with TBS surfaced last week, it was accompanied by reports that the flame-haired comedian might have hosted a show on Xbox Live. Today, Bloomberg is reporting that Microsoft has been considering a dedicated television channel for the online game service.

According to the business newswire's sources, Microsoft has been in discussions with former News Corp. president Peter Chernin to create a channel exclusive to Xbox Live Gold members, who pay an $8 monthly, $20 tri-monthly, or $50 annual fee. To pay for programming and transmission costs, Chernin proposed hiking XBL Gold subscriptions $1-2 a month, or $12-24 more a year.

The Xbox Live TV channel would reportedly be co-owned by Chernin and Microsoft and would feature both reruns and original shows. Both would cater to the tastes of the "online service's young, male target audience," according to Bloomberg's sources. To that end, Chernin apparently approached O'Brien about hosting a show on Xbox Live, although the discussions (obviously) fell through.