History
Prior to the advent of cord-cutting, Sony had created add-on devices for the PS3 in international markets, specifically the PlayTV in Europe and Australia and the torne in Japan, to allow PS3 users to view live TV through their PS3 consoles and an over-the-air television antenna. However, no such device was created for the PS3 in North America, likely due to less of an interest in antenna-based TV viewing at the time and the fact that either the PlayTV or Torne devices would have to be modified or else a new device created, as to be compatible with North American digital TV signals (which utilize the ATSC standard, as opposed to the DVB-T standard used by the PlayTV or the ISDB-T standard used by the torne).
In a presentation at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas on January 7, 2014, Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Andrew House announced that the company was developing a new cloud-based service that would include the "most popular live TV programs combined with a large library of VOD content" from outside streaming services. Neither House nor representatives with Sony Computer Entertainment offered any specifics on these plans.[4][5]
During the summer and fall of 2014, Sony had reached carriage agreements with various cable channel owners to obtain the over-the-top distribution rights to their networks as part of the planned OTT offering. On September 10, Sony and Viacom announced that they had signed a distribution agreement that would allow the service to provide "at least" 22 linear cable channels at launch, as well as access to on-demand offerings from the channels.[6] On November 5, CBS Corporation and Discovery Communications confirmed in their respective third-quarter earnings reports that Sony had licensed the rights to their cable channels – and in CBS' case, its owned-and-operated broadcast stations – on the planned service.[7][8][9] On November 10, while appearing at the RBC Capital Markets 2014 Technology, Internet, Media and Telecommunications Conference in New York City, CBS Corporation CEO Leslie Moonves commented on the offering, saying that "Sony is going to do an offering that's very interesting" with "more bells and whistles" and "more VOD content."[10][11]
Sony Network Entertainment International and Sony Computer Entertainment formally disclosed the planned service on November 12, 2014, when the subsidiaries jointly announced the launch of PlayStation Vue, an over-the-top television service which "reinvents the television experience," offering live feeds of 75 channels owned by groups as CBS Corporation, Viacom, NBCUniversal, Discovery Communications, Scripps Networks Interactive, Turner Broadcasting System, and 21st Century Fox, along with on-demand content; the service would initially be available for via a built-in app for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 consoles. Sony planned to offer a beta preview of the service to select PS3 and PS4 users on an invitation-only basis starting later that month, although this rollout would be withheld by three months.[12][13][14]
PlayStation Vue initially launched on March 18, 2015, in the form of a limited rollout in the major markets of Chicago, Dallas–Fort Worth, Miami, New York City and Philadelphia.[15][16] Vue reached its first pact with a major premium channel on June 8, when CBS Corporation announced that PlayStation Vue would add Showtime in early July as an à la carte package, consisting of the network's linear east and west coast feeds as well as its standalone over-the-top streaming service (joining Apple and Roku as the latter's launch partners).[17]
On June 15, 2015, in a press conference at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), House announced that PlayStation Vue would become available in Los Angeles and San Francisco beginning that evening, and that the service would become the exclusive launch partner for the linear feed of online video network Machinima, which would be included as part of the Vue Elite tier. The service would also allow PlayStation owners in the rest of the country to purchase select channels on an a la carte basis starting in July, stating that Vue would be "the first paid TV service to allow users to subscribe to individual channels without the purchase of a multi-channel bundle."[18] The available a la carte services initially included Showtime (through an agreement with CBS reached on June 5, 2015, in which PlayStation Vue customers would be able to subscribe to a package that includes the east and west coast linear feeds of the primary Showtime channel, and on demand content from its standalone OTT service), Fox Soccer Plus (available as a standalone sports add-on), Epix Hits and Machinima (both of which would be available as standalone premium packages as well as part of the Elite tier's lineup).[19][20][17][21]
On November 5, Sony announced an agreement with The Walt Disney Company that would allow it to distribute the company's cable channels (which would include among others ESPN and select associated networks, Disney Channel, Disney Junior, Disney XD, ABC Family and Fusion) on PlayStation Vue at an initially undetermined date. The agreement also gave Vue rights to ABC's eight owned-and-operated stations in their respective markets and on-demand content from ABC – through both Vue's VOD offerings and Disney–ABC's TV Everywhere apps that provide access to network content to Vue subscribers via their PlayStation Network email address and password – elsewhere. ABC-affiliated stations owned by other companies were also granted opt-in rights to offer their live linear signals to PlayStation Vue users.[22] The Disney–ABC networks and O&Os were added to the service on March 2, 2016, initially excluding several ESPN networks (such as ESPN3, Longhorn Network, ESPN Goal Line/Buzzer Beater/Bases Loaded and ESPN College Extra), which Sony stated would be added to the service in the future.[23]
On November 12, 2015, PlayStation Vue expanded support to the Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV stick; support for Google Chromecast devices was added the following month on December 15, however, it was limited to iOS users as PS Vue had not yet launched an app for Google's Android operating system.[16][24][25][26]
Sony rolled out PlayStation Vue to the remainder of the United States on March 14, 2016. However, pricing and channel offering would differ for subscribers in the seven initial PS Vue markets and the 203 newly added markets. Because of the business ecosystem of broadcast television, Sony initially limited distribution of linear feeds of the five major broadcast networks (The CW, ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox) to markets where each of the networks has an owned-and-operated station, as it does not automatically have the rights to stream affiliates owned by other broadcasting companies. As a workaround, Sony stated that PlayStation Vue would offer on-demand content from The CW, ABC, Fox, NBC, Telemundo and Univision as a substitute in areas where a local station feed is not available, with new episodes of their series being made available the day after their initial broadcast; on-demand access to CBS programs would become available in select markets at an unspecified later date.[27][28][29] Upon adding owned-and-operated stations of ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox located outside the service's initial markets on May 25, 2016, Sony representatives stated that the company intended to reach carriage deals with the independently owned station groups to provide their live signals for PS Vue, stating that it would "continue to work on adding more local stations nationwide."
Sony expanded its relationship with Time Warner and PS Vue's premium channel offerings on September 15, 2016, through an agreement that added HBO and Cinemax to the service as separate add-on packs. As part of this agreement, the first in which either channel's linear feeds would become available directly to consumers without requiring a bundled programming tier, PlayStation Vue customers who subscribe to HBO would automatically have access to the network's companion over-the-top service, HBO Now, which is usually offered as a standalone subscription without need of a television provider (as opposed to the similarly structured HBO Go, which is strictly offered through traditional cable and satellite providers as a TV Everywhere offering); support for HBO Now would initially be restricted to PlayStation 4 consoles for new and existing subscribers of that service.[31][32][33][34] HBO and Cinemax were added to PlayStation Vue – with both packages consisting solely of the east and west coast feeds of their respective primary linear channels and HBO Now, but exempting the respective HBO and Cinemax multiplex channels – on September 30, 2016.
On July 26, 2016, Sony and NFL Media announced an agreement to distribute the NFL Network and NFL RedZone on the service.[36][37] On November 8, Sony announced that PlayStation Vue would stop carrying / dropping all channels owned by Viacom Media Networks effective November 11, in order to reduce programming costs to maintain the existing pricing of its tiers. It also announced the addition of three channels: BBC America and NBA TV starting the following day on November 9, and Viceland at an unspecified later date.[38][39] Two months later on January 25, 2017, PlayStation Vue announced it would move the Esquire Network to its "Elite" package, in advance of the network's planned shutdown that spring.[40]
It was reported on October 24, 2019, that Sony was looking to sell the Vue service.[43] Days later on October 29, it was reported that the service would be discontinued on January 30, 2020.[44]
An exploit for the PS4 utilizing the PlayStation Vue app was discovered in early 2026. On February 7 it was released into the public domain.
