Microsoft is trying to recruit TV executives to help build original shows for the Xbox.
Bloomberg reports that the company approached Jeff Gaspin, who was the chairman of NBC before Comcast took over the company in January, and Marc Graboff, who just announced plans to quit his job as the head of west coast operations for NBC.
This sounds like an awful idea.
Microsoft has tried to make big content pushes in the past -- in the 1990s it launched a bunch of original Web content for MSN (like the magazine Slate), and in 2006 it unveiled MSN Originals, a project to get exclusive video content for MSN. None of them took off.
Plus, Microsoft is already doing quite well getting content from partners.
Earlier this week, Microsoft added content from a whole bunch of video partners to Xbox Live, including traditional TV providers like Comcast Xfinity (on demand) and Verizon, and networks like ESPN and the BBC.
So why get into original content?
There may be a bit of Google-envy at work here.
Google has reportedly invested hundreds of millions of dollars to spur original YouTube content, and last month it unveiled more than 100 new exclusive YouTube channels. Google isn't actually producing that content, but it is exclusive -- unlike most of the material on Xbox Live today.
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