Sony has revealed a new TV service that will hopefully provide people a way of cutting their cable out completely. Currently Sony revealed roughly 75+ channels at launch including Fox, NBC, ABC and Viacom, which includes channels like MTV and Nickelodeon. Pricing hasn't been revealed and Beta testing will begin this month for people who live in New York, followed by Chicago, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles. The rest of the service will launch early 2015. The service is said to allow live TV watching, as well as storing certain shows for 28 days in the cloud where you can access them at any time from many different devices. Pricing has not been revealed however they have said it will not require a contract or have termination fees and simply be a month to month service.
My Thoughts
With so many streaming choices out there the key to success is options. Hulu Plus is similar but you pay to watch more shows and still have to watch commercials. Netflix doesn't have new shows the day after so it is a completely different service. With more and more networks doing streaming like CBS and HBO we may be closer to an ala carte deal for cable and that would honestly be the best choice for consumers. But honestly would the cable companies even allow it?
As for Sony's foray into streaming and live TV through the internet, the biggest thing will be cost. The New York Times speculated the service could cost $60 a month, which is better than most cable companies and satellite companies offer. However, this cost will only be a bargain based on the channels provided. I believe the internet based TV to win the majority of subscribers is the one that signs up Disney and includes ESPN. The biggest thing that cable companies have over consumers is local sports and blackouts. As someone who loves my local sports teams, I can't watch those without cable thanks to blackouts. This leaves me no option but to subscribe to cable in order to follow my teams.
How well the streaming is will be another big part, but streaming videos hasn't been an issue to netflix and Hulu, but with net neutrality becoming a big player in the media, it could cause problems to things like the vue with ISP's. I am glad Sony didn't waste time at E3 or other game based shows promoting this service like Xbox did with Xbox Tv. This was a perfect way to announce the name and give an update to a service briefly mentioned last year at CES. Only time will tell if the choices and channel lineup expand to make this a true viable option.
What do you think? Would you consider this service?
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