Microsoft is rolling out more TV apps to Xbox Live Gold subscribers

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Microsoft is rolling out dozens of new apps for the Xbox 360, building on statistics that show members of its paid online subscription service spend more time on it watching video than they do playing multiplayer games over the Internet.

The company said Tuesday that by early next year it will add more than 40 apps to its Xbox Live service, such as MTV, The CW Network and CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada. Many of the apps will require paid subscriptions on top of the Xbox Live Gold subscription, which costs $60 a year, or $10 a month.

Several services, such as the Canadian hockey app, are only offered in the country of origin.

In the U.S., Xbox Live subscribers spend an average of 84 hours a month on the service. Globally, the number of hours spent on the service has grown 30 per cent, said the company, which is based in Redmond, Wash.

Some of the new apps are launching Tuesday, including a Karaoke sing-along app in all regions but Japan and the United Arab Emirates, and SkyDrive, Microsoft’s Internet-based document storage service.