[LAUNCH] Sony Playstation Vue TV service Launched Nationwide in U.S.

Ditching your cable TV subscription just got easier, no matter where you live in the United States.

PlayStation Vue, a service that streams live and on-demand TV over the Internet, is now available everywhere in the country, and for a lower price than ever. Starting today in 203 U.S. TV markets, you can subscribe to the service for as little as $30 per month. 

Vue is designed as an alternative to a traditional pay TV package from a satellite or cable TV provider. It delivers numerous live TV channels and on-demand programming, just like cable TV, and also lets you record shows to a "cloud DVR" and watch multiple TVs around the house from one account.

To use Vue you'll need an active subscription, a stable broadband Internet connection and a compatible device. Currently they include PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 game consoles, as well as Amazon Fire TV boxes and Fire TV Stick devices (if you have a Fire TV device, you don't need a PlayStation to use Vue). There's also a Vue iOS app for iPad and iPhone, which can Cast to TV devices like Chromecast--but you can't use Vue if don't own at least one PlayStation console or Fire TV.

New "Slim" packages lose local channels

Until today Vue was only available in seven major metropolitan areas: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, San Francisco and Miami. Packages in those cities start at $40 per month and include local broadcast TV channels, namely ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC (but not PBS).

If you live in one of the 203 other TV markets newly served by Vue--places like Atlanta, Detroit, Houston, Phoenix, Portland, and St. Louis, as well as smaller cities and towns in all 50 states--you only be able to subscribe to what Vue is calling "Slim" versions of its channel packages, starting at $30 per month.

 The difference is that Slim packages don't have access to live local channels via Vue. According to Sony's press release,

 "Content from ABC, FOX and NBC will be available only as on-demand content in the Slim multi-channel plans. Most on-demand content will be available within 24 hours after airing. CBS live and on-demand programming will be added to select TV markets at a later date." 

I spoke with Dan Myers, head of product for PlayStation Vue, and was given some additional details. If you live in one of the original seven markets you will not be able to subscribe to a Slim package that lacks local channels--in other words, pricing in those seven markets will not change as a result of Vue's nationwide expansion, and starts at $40.

Sony will continue to add local channel access to additional markets in the future. I asked Myers whether that meant, for example, that a Vue subscriber in Atlanta might suddenly have to start paying $40 per month instead of $30 once those channels were available, but he said he didn't have any additional pricing tiers to announce.

Beyond pricing, regional availability and the absence of local channels, Vue's Slim packages are identical to their non-slim counterparts. The cheapest $30 Access Slim package has 55 or so channels; the $35 Core Slim package has 70-odd with the addition of live national and select regional sports networks; and the $45 Elite Slim package has more than 100 channels.

Author : Anushk Keshri Rastogi
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