Sony have given up on their burgeoning TV streaming service, announcing that PlayStation Vue will shut down on 30th January 2020. With an eye on the next generation of console and PlayStation 5, they will be focussing the PlayStation brand back around the core gaming business.
Only available in the US, Vue was an attempt to target cable cutters and streaming services at the same time. You could subscribe to various packages, picking up individual channels as well as having access to on demand programming and a cloud DVR to capture live TV for viewing later. With broadcast feeds for major channels like ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC, it could offer a fairly comprehensive cable TV replacement.
However, the roll out across the US wasn’t quite level across the country, with certain states and markets not having access to some live channels or on demand. Going up against similar services froom Dish, DirectTV and YouTube, not to mention the increasing dominance of Netflix and Amazon Prime and similar services popping up, PlayStation Vue never really managed to gain enough momentum. Apparently this was only around 500,000 subscribers, compared to the millions that other services have managed.
Sony were reportedly searching for a buyer for their business in the last few days, and it’s entirely possible that someone could swoop in and pick up the service’s pool of subscribers, but announcing the service’s closure shows that Sony really wanted shot of the whole Pay TV palaver.
Source: PlayStation, Gamasutra
