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Sony Rolls Out Its Eagerly Awaited Internet TV Service — With More Than 80 Channels and a Price That Approaches Cable

Mar 19, 2015  •  Post A Comment

In another development that is likely to inspire cord cutters, Sony has launched its streaming TV option that delivers programming via the Internet to the PlayStation platform.

CNN reports: “PlayStation Vue has launched in Chicago, New York and Philadelphia for the PS3 and PS4. It is accessible through Sony (SNE) PlayStation consoles and offers the kind of TV bundle that cable companies sell.”

The service is along the lines of a DVR and gives consumers the option of watching live programming and on-demand content, the report notes.

“You can watch more than 80 channels on Vue, but you’ll have to pay more for certain stations,” CNN reports. “For $50 a month, you’ll get 53 channels, including CBS, Fox, NBC, Bravo, CNN, Comedy Central, the Food Network, MTV, Nickelodeon and TNT. At $60 a month, you get access to a small handful of local sports networks, including New York’s YES and the Big Ten Network. And for $70 a month, you’ll be able to stream 26 more channels, such as FXM, Logo and Sprout.”

Disney-owned channels, such as ABC and ESPN, are not currently a part of the package, which has Sony entering a field of competitors that includes Dish Network’s Sling TV, HBO’s upcoming HBO Now service and new offerings from CBS and Viacom, along with streaming video standard bearers such as Amazon Prime, Hulu and Netflix.

“Sony has by far the largest selection of channels available among its competitors,” CNN reports. “But you still have to pay your cable company for Internet service, after which the extra price for the equivalent number of channels from your cable provider might be around the same as the $50 Sony is charging for its Vue service.”

A wider launch is expected in the coming months.

Playstation-Vue

One Comment

  1. This isn’t going to “inspire” cord cutters. The biggest reason that most people cut the cord is to save money. $50 a month is not a big savings, especially since it seems that most of the 53 channels don’t even merit a mention here and most will also probably go unwatched by the majority of subscribers. In Houston, TX. we get more than 90 stations over the air for free with just an antenna. You want more? Hook a computer to your TV and everything that you can stream for free will be on your TV too. You want a DVR? Put a dual TV tuner card in your computer and hook it up to your antenna, and you’ll be able to record two things at once while watching a third on your TV. And $9 a month for Netflix or Amazon is a lot better than $70, $60 or even $50 a month from playstation.

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