I have to ask, did you watch the MS E3 presser last year or are you simply going off what you've heard?
Simply going off from what I heard.
C'mon man. You act like it's super easy to make a hit show that's worth a premium fee. Breaking Bad, by the way, doesn't count since it was on extended basic and doesn't require a premium content subscription to view. It was a great show, but not in the same market as House of Cards or other premium cable shows.
Not too late? Their delivery service is inferior to at least three competing services, two of which now offer original programming. Every premium cable channel offers their own direct-to-consumer streaming software. The XBL "ecosystem" includes Netflix and Hulu, by the way. A fact they were happy to point out at XBO's reveal as part of their multimedia strategy. If I have subs to either (or both), Xbox Video will be competing with them on the very same console. Not a very sound strategy.
There is more competition for consumers' dollars for premium shows now than there ever has been in the past. Microsoft missed the boat by several miles and this just smells of the same desperate "we can do that too" strategy they used (and failed with, repeatedly) under Ballmer's leadership. Shareholders are already pissed at Microsoft's recent issues. They took a heavy loss on Surface RT and Surface Pro, the new iterations of Surface are selling better but still not up to expectations, they just threw out a shitload of money to take full control of the Nokia/Windows Phone pipeline while Windows Phone continues to sell at a disappointing rate, and the Xbox One is somewhere between disappointment and disastrous. Where's the logic in throwing EVEN MORE more money into a crowded market space where, once again, all they have is the HOPE that it pays off?
I'm all for internet companies making TV shows, broadcast media had the opportunity to embrace the internet and control the programming but they chose to stick with the existing model, not because there was more money in it, just because it was easier money to make.
Now Netflix, Amazon, etc will eat their lunches by making shows and selling them straight to consumers AND make more money selling them back to broadcasters to go out on cable. I'd call that just desserts.
Which is why Sony saw the writing on the wall in which the battle for the living room was already over around in a very crowded market & designed the PS4 with gaming in mind first, & multimedia secondary, which was smart.