The Sony Entertainment Network has big plans for 2015. It is the first of a few companies who will be offering cloud-based TV service, and Sony is calling this new service: Playstation Vue. This past November in New York, Sony started the beta testing of the new service. The company has plans to continue the beta testing in the cities of Philadelphia, PA, Chicago, IL and New York, NY. All beta testing will be done by invitation only.
Sony is planning the initial launch of the service for the first quarter of 2015. The company is also planning to make the new service available for a variety of other devices, including the Apple iPad.
Both Verizon and the Dish Network are two other major, big-name companies that will be among the first of several who plan to offer bundles of “live TV channels over the Internet.” These new “internet-based streaming television offerings” will be very similar to that of traditional cable.
Channels such as Comedy Central, MTV and Nickelodeon are to be included in the first 75 channels the Sony Playstation Vue service will be offering. Sony is currently in the process of negotiating an agreement with Disney. ESPN, which is a sports station that is currently owned by Disney, is also one of the most popular and most-watched sports channels, and therefore commands the most expensive carriage fees on cable.
According to Sony, a lot of its Playstation customers currently subscribe to cable TV but desire an improved user experience. Sony has not determined yet how much it plans to charge its customers for the new service; however, it does plan to offer attractive pricing without any additional charges and without forcing its customers into long-term contracts.
Sony’s plan for the new service includes a focus on improvement of the current cable TV interface by combining the traditional cable and a cloud-based user interface. The new interface, which will be similar to that of Netflix, will feature both time-shifted as well as live viewing, and will also include a list of user recommendations.
[…] a sense of looming (supposedly) existential threat into the minds of an overwhelming proportion of cable tv industry stakeholders. This will eventually result in many of them consolidating their resources and grip over the market […]