BSkyB and Microsoft had to abort their joint launch of the Sky Player on Xbox 360 service yesterday, after technical problems meant that eager customers could not log in.

"The service has been suspended due to an unforeseen technical issue." Sky said in a statement.  "Sky Player engineers are hard at work to resolve the problem. We expect to have the full service available on Wednesday."

The service is planned to have 24 linear channels available at launch, as well as a VOD library, with existing Sky customers receiving free access to the service, while non-Sky subscribers will have to pay GB£ 15 (US$ 24.58) per month.