PlayStation brand streaming TV service "PS Vue" provided overseas will end in January next year

It was announced that Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE)'s streaming TV service "PlayStation Vue" (PS Vue), which had been developed in the United States, will end on January 30, 2020, local time.

PS Vue is a monthly membership-based Internet TV service. Unlike Netflix, which distributes individual content such as movies and dramas, you can watch paid cable TV stations if you have an internet connection and a compatible terminal. Initially started in March 2015 as a service for PlayStation 3/4 in limited areas such as New York, it has expanded the target area and platform since then.

Local TV situation and "cord cutting"

To briefly explain the TV situation in the United States, the "terrestrial" that can be seen for free in Japan is limited, and in the past it was common to subscribe to pay cable TV, and the Internet. After the spread of TV, it was often accompanied by an Internet contract through the cable line.

However, since the cost is not ridiculous, in the 2010s, we decided to eliminate the cable TV contract and use only the Internet contract, or to secure the Internet connection by another method such as mobile device "cord cutting" (cable). The number of people who choose (meaning to disconnect the TV cable) is gradually increasing.

However, not all people suddenly stopped watching TV, and the need for "I don't want to sign a cable TV contract but want to watch TV content via the Internet" has emerged. PS Vue will be one of the early services that appeared in response to such demand.

Background of the end of intensifying content acquisition competition

However, AT & T TV Now (formerly DirecTV Now), which is affiliated with the telecommunications company AT & T, Sling TV, which is a satellite TV system, and Xfinity Instant TV, which is operated by the cable TV network Comcast, and in recent years, are higher-level services of the streaming service Hulu. Similar competing services such as Hulu + Live TV and YouTube TV operated by YouTube under Google are increasing year by year.

In addition, content providers such as cable stations and movie companies will continue to launch flat-rate services that allow them to directly view their own content, and as a result, competition for content will continue to intensify. It's not uncommon for a particular station to be discontinued and no longer available, or for a monthly fee increase (the reporter himself signed up for PS Vue once when he tried "code-cutting". However, I noticed that Comedy Central's contract to watch the anime "South Park" has expired, and I switched to Hulu + Live TV within the free period).

In an article announcing the end of service by SIE Vice President Go Kodera posted on the overseas PS Blog, the reason for withdrawal is the soaring content contract fee in such a situation, so refocus on the original core game business of PlayStation. Is stated.