Sony to take on pay TV giants?
November 16, 2011
Sony is said to be mulling the launch of an OTT competitor to pay TV operators. The company is in exploratory talks with several big media and companies, including Comcast-controlled NBCUniversal, News Corp. and Discovery Communications, for rights that would allow it to carry their TV networks OTT to Sony devices in the US, according to the WSJ. Such devices include PlayStation gaming consoles, Internet-enabled Sony TV sets and Blu-ray players.
Sony has about 18 million PS 3 consoles in the US alone, according to the NPD Group.
Sony has more flexibility in its approach as it owns a movie and TV studio, but doesn’t own a major US TV network like its fellow entertainment conglomerates that would be affected by pay TV subscribers dropping their monthly cable or satellite service.
Reportedly Sony doesn’t want to recreate the same bundles cable TV offers and might start with smaller niche channels that are having trouble getting fees from cable operators.