Visual recreation of network executive revealing cable licensing costs to Microsoft. 

Microsoft had a plan in motion to let you subscribe to current TV shows and live network feeds, according to a report from Reuters, but pulled out when because the licensing prices asked by the media companies were too high.

The report describes the "Microsoft TV" model as an alternative to traditional cable packages, allowing you to buy into certain bundles of content and do things like change channels with voice and motion controls, presumably with Kinect. Instead, Microsoft decided to still offer live TV over your Xbox, so long as you have a cable subscription with one of the major providers.

Kudos to Microsoft for dreaming the impossible dream of a la carte TV service. For now, the majority of access to things like live sports and top first-run programs remains the domain of the cable giants.

Worth noting is that the news comes at a coincidental time, as a new, lengthy profile of Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in Bloomberg Businessweek places him in a Microsoft store in Bellevue, Washington, glancing at a screen in the store and saying, “Oh, ho! Live TV!” 

Also releaved from the profile: Ballmer enjoys Lady Gaga, but hates Gnarls Barkley. (In fairness to Cee Lo and Danger Mouse, Gaga is a bit closer in musicality to Gloria Estefan.) 

SOURCE: Exclusive: Microsoft Web TV subscription plan on hold [Reuters]