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Microsoft’s move to build out its online video content offerings on the Xbox 360 gives the company one of the most diverse collection of over-the-top viewing experiences in Canada, enabling users to access a wide variety of movie services, sports channels and on demand television programming, all through one device.

Canadians could already watch video content on an Xbox 360 via offerings from Netflix Inc. and Microsoft’s own internal movie service, but with the addition of Rogers, MLSE, Astral and YouTube to the mix, consumers will now have a variety of options through which to access content.

In fact, thanks to Microsoft’s universal Bing search technology on the Xbox, users will be able to search for a particular movie title, such as “Iron Man” and in many instances, choose which service — on-demand, pay to download, or pay per view — they wish to use to watch the movie.

With more than three million Xbox 360 consoles in Canada, Microsoft’s user base is comparable to the customer bases of the major cable and satellite television providers

The new applications include a Rogers on Demand Online application, which provides users with access to on demand and pay per view movies and television shows. The app is free for Rogers customers.

For Rogers, the new Xbox 360 app is part of the company’s expanding “TV anywhere” strategy, which aims to enable customers to watch movies and television shows through Rogers smartphones, tablets and other devices, in addition to set top boxes.