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A group of men play the Xbox One games at the Game Developers Conference 2014 in San Francisco. AP Photo/Jeff Chiu
TV streaming

Now Microsoft and Yahoo are creating their original TV shows

The two companies are planning on releasing their own original TV shows which would compete against the likes of Netflix and Amazon.

TWO MORE COMPANIES are planning on entering the TV streaming market with their own original TV shows.

Both Microsoft and Yahoo are in different stages of releasing their own TV shows, but both are planning on disrupting the hold Netflix and Amazon have on the market.

For Microsoft, it’s said to be releasing a number of original programmes globally for June to help attract more people to its games console.

According to Bloomberg, the company has six series lined up – such as sci-fi thriller Humans which was created in partnership with Xbox Entertainment Studios and Channel 4 - and more than a dozen projects in development. This also includes the ‘Halo’ series from Stephen Spielberg.

The shows produced by Microsoft will also include additional content exclusive to Xbox 360 and One owners. For Humans, it will show what happened to certain characters outside the show’s plot, while Every Street United, a street football reality show, will unlock extra scenes and will include mini-games that can be played in each scene.

Another company which is going down the same route is Yahoo, which is close to ordering four series of original programming. The Wall Street Journal reports that the shows would be half-hour comedies, with ten episodes per season.

The budget of each episode is said to range from $700,000 to a few million dollars and will likely be streamed through Yahoo Screen.

The projects being considered would be led by writers or directors with experience in television with the company’s CEO Marissa Mayer hoping to show them off to advertisers at the end of April.

Both companies are hoping to recreate the success Netflix had with its own original shows such as House of Cards and Orange is the New Black.

Read: Amazon announces Fire TV, its set-top streaming box and gaming device >

Read: This post will decide your next TV box set >

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