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Sony Officially Announces Test of an Over-the-Top Streaming TV Service. Company, at CES, Also Announces Gaming Service

Jan 7, 2014  •  Post A Comment

"Sony Corp. will begin testing an Internet-based television service in the U.S. this year, challenging traditional cable and satellite providers including Comcast Corp. and DirecTV," writes Cliff Edwards on the website of BloombergBusinessweek.

The story continues, "The product will combine live programs with an on-demand library of films and TV shows, Andrew House, chief executive officer of Sony Computer Entertainment, said today [Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2014] at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas."

The story adds that Sony didn’t offer details of any content agreements for the TV service. However, in August TVWeek reported that Sony was close to a deal with Viacom to license some of its programming for this new over-the-top service.

Furthermore, BloombergBusinessweek reported that "The Tokyo-based company will also test a video-game streaming service for PlayStation consoles, smartphones and TVs.

"The cloud-based efforts highlight Chief Executive Officer Kazuo Hirai’s bid to remake Sony for a new generation of consumers who want easy access to content anytime, anywhere. Sony’s products must embody the Japanese spirit of ‘kando’ — to inspire or capture users emotionally, Hirai said today from the stage at CES. ‘We don’t consider any product a success unless we have delivered that "Wow,"’ Hirai said. ‘The mission of Sony is to inspire and fulfill people’s curiosity around the world.’"

The story also says, "Sony sees Web-delivered content from its TV, movie and music units as crucial to turning around the struggling television manufacturing unit, which hasn’t made a profit in nine years and ranks fourth globally in revenue, according to Statista, a research service.

"Obtaining rights to films and TV shows may be difficult and expensive, said Craig Moffett, senior research analyst at MoffettNathanson LLC in New York. ‘The digital rights issues are incredibly complicated,’ Moffett said in an e-mail. ‘Sony might therefore be required to get the rights not only for the networks, but also for the individual shows. And in many cases, those rights simply aren’t available. They have already been sold to companies like Netflix.’"

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