Sony to shut down PlayStation Vue on January 30, 2020
Sony's live TV streaming service, PlayStation Vue, is shutting down. The service will no longer be available as of January 30, 2020, the company announced today. The news comes only days after rumors circulated which claimed Sony was in search of a new owner for the struggling service.
A report in The Information claimed Sony had talked to fuboTV about a possible deal which would include Vue's subscriber base of some 500,000 users and its underlying technology. It also said Sony had tapped Bank of America Merrill Lynch several months ago to explore a sale.
The business was said to be valued in the tens of millions.
The news of Vue's closure will likely disappoint a number of fans of the streaming service, who appreciated Vue's user interface and unique features - like multi-view, which let you watch multiple live programs at once - as well as its decent sports package.
It's not surprising, however, that Vue didn't pan out. The service faced challenges in consumer adoption, largely because of its branding. By calling it "PlayStation Vue" made many consumers thought it was limited to PlayStation consoles. In reality, the service was available across platforms just like Hulu Live TV, YouTube TV, Sling TV and others are. You didn't even need to own a PlayStation to use it.
Sony says it has 100 million PlayStation 4s on the market, which makes its inability to make Vue work even more disappointing. Not only was Vue one of the first live TV streaming service to arrive on the market, it had a built-in audience to advertise to.
In the end, the company claimed market pressures are what led to its demise.
"Unfortunately, the highly competitive Pay TV industry, with expensive content and network deals, has been slower to change than we expected. Because of this, we have decided to remain focused on our core gaming business," the Sony announcement stated.
The company directed PlayStation owners to its PlayStation Store on PS4 to continue to access movie and TV content going forward.
"We are very proud of what PlayStation Vue was able to accomplish. We had ambitious goals for how our service could change how people watch TV, showcasing PlayStation's ability to innovate in a brand-new category within the Pay TV industry. We want to thank all of our customers, some of whom have been with us since PlayStation Vue's launch in 2015," the announcement read.