Sony launches PlayStation Vue web-based TV service with all major broadcast and some cable networks, testing in NYC with broad rollout in Q1 2015
Sony to Introduce Web-Based TV Service — Sony is pressing play on a new web-based television service that represents an attempt to transform …
Context & Ripple Effects
Sony framed Internet-delivered television as a PlayStation initiative in January, when it said it would begin testing later in 2014. The NYC trial is the execution step for that earlier planned Internet TV test, moving Sony from an announced service into negotiations and distribution with broadcast and cable programmers.
The launch also extends Sony’s effort to turn PlayStation’s hardware reach into services: the company reported 3.3 million PlayStation 4 sales in Q3 while its smartphone business was being restructured.
First-order effects
- Sony gains a live market test for PlayStation Vue in New York, while participating broadcast and cable networks gain an Internet-distribution outlet through Sony's service.
- PlayStation owners become Sony's immediate target for a bundled television service rather than only console hardware and game purchases.
Second-order effects
- Sony’s planned broad rollout makes channel availability and the service’s package economics central to whether PlayStation can convert its hardware audience into recurring-service customers.
- Broadcasters and cable networks participating in Vue must weigh the value of Sony distribution against keeping their programming tied to established television bundles.
Third-order effects
- If Sony can pair a console audience with licensed live television, the console-to-service model shifts competition from one-time hardware sales toward ongoing media relationships.
- The experiment points to Internet pay-TV distribution becoming another negotiating channel for programmers, with content rights and bundle design determining which platforms can scale.
The trend: PlayStation Vue is one data point in the shift from console hardware as a standalone product to consoles as a distribution base for recurring media services.