Xbox TV executive not threatened by PlayStation's own TV plans

Both Microsoft and Sony are working on original TV programming for their game consoles, but in a new interview Xbox Entertainment Studios chief Nancy Tellem questions how committed Sony is. A Bloomberg journalist asks Tellem if Sony's original TV initiative is a threat to what Microsoft is doing and she responded thusly: "It isn't."

"We've been at it for a year and a half where Microsoft has dedicated a whole studio to support this kind of content development," Tellem said. "Sony has been in the TV business for some time; the idea that PlayStation always has focused themselves on gameplay. Original content is something that everyone's toying with right now. It's very unclear how committed they are to that on the PlayStation."

Microsoft's original programming efforts are serious. The company has greenlighted more than a half-dozen shows, including new programming from Hollywood comedy stars like Seth Green, Sarah Silverman, and Michael Cera. Microsoft is also working with iconic film director Steven Spielberg on a Halo TV show and the outfit will also host live broadcasts and exclusive documentaries.

For its part, Sony has announced only one show--a new superhero program called Powers. During E3 2013 last summer, Sony announced that it was developing original TV programming for PlayStation, but we have not heard much about that since.

Also during Bloomberg's interview with Tellem--a former CBS TV executive--she teases that Microsoft has an enviable stable of franchises like Fable, Gears of War, Forza, and Age of Empires that could become TV shows one day. "These are things that frankly if [they] weren't attached to Microsoft, everyone would yearn to have. That is an amazing platform to work from," she said.

You can watch the full interview with Tellem below. It touches on other subjects like budgets, the Halo TV show, how to measure a show's success, and new Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's commitment to Xbox Entertainment Studios.