Sony today released PlayStation Vue – a dedicated television streaming service aimed at – as the name might suggest – PlayStation owners.
While Apple is apparently readying its own entry into the increasingly competitive field of TV streaming, Sony today released PlayStation Vue – a television service aimed at – as the name might suggest – PlayStation owners.
The pricey service, currently only available to PlayStation 3 and 4 owners in New York, Philadelphia and Chicago, launched earlier this morning alongside a 7 day free trial for new consumers.
New users can subscribe to Vue for – at cheapest – $50 USD a month, and will be able to access a multitude of channels, including major US broadcasters such as CBS, NBC, and Fox, in addition to related channels owned by the former networks. The basic Vue subscription tier offers 55 networks and channels in total.
Vue makes use of a cloud-based DVR to save storage space on PlayStation consoles, and offers on-demand viewing for a variety of shows. Vue is also optimised for the PlayStation DualShock controller.
While Vue has received praise for its overall user experience and bouquet of channels, the service has also been slated for it’s minimum $50 price – standard US cable providers charge a monthly $60 fee for access.
Vue charges an additional $10 per month for access to YES and Comcost SportsNet networks (for New York, and Philidelphia and Chicago, respectively), and a further $10 adds additional lifestyle and music channels.
Vue currently competes with Sling TV, an alternative tv streaming service with a far cheaper minimum subscription of $20 per month. Sling, however, at the most basic tier arrives with only 17 channels.
While Vue is at present a PlayStation exclusive, Sony has also made public plans to bring the service over to Apple’s iPad in the near future through a consumer’s PlayStation Network (PSN) account.
For US, and indeed eventually South African consumers, Vue represents an enticing alternative to networked content, though the price to cut the cord is indeed high.
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