Sony PlayStation Vue Now Available on Apple TV
Sony Interactive Entertainment’s PlayStation Vue broadband-delivered pay-TV service is now available on Apple TV set-tops — with the launch coming just before AT&T debuts its DirecTV Now rival.
PS Vue is available only on fourth-generation Apple TV devices. Users will be able to take advantage of Apple TV’s Siri-enabled remote and touch-based navigation. Sony’s virtual pay-TV service is also available on PlayStation 3 and 4 consoles, Roku, Google Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, iOS and Android devices, and Amazon Fire tablets.
PlayStation Vue provides access to live TV programming, including sports networks like ESPN and NFL Network and entertainment channels like AMC, FX and HBO. Last week, Sony dropped Viacom’s networks from the lineup, citing the need to provide “compelling value to our fans.” The company has not disclosed how many subs it has signed up for PS Vue, which first launched in March 2015.
Users with an existing PlayStation Vue account can link their subscription to Apple TV and start streaming immediately. New users can sign up for one of several plan options through the PlayStation Vue website and link their subscription to Apple TV, without the need for a PlayStation console. A seven-day free trial is available to new PlayStation Vue customers.
Sony offers four PlayStation Vue plans: Access, with 45-plus channels for $29.99 per month ($39.99 in markets with local TV channels, which include New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, San Francisco, and Miami), Core, with 60-plus channels for $34.99 ($44.99 in local TV markets); Elite, with 90-plus channels for $44.99 per month ($54.99 in local TV markets); and Ultra, which includes all the Elite channels plus HBO and Showtime for $64.99 ($74.99 in local TV markets).
PlayStation Vue will get a formidable new competitor with DirecTV Now, which AT&T says it plans to launch in late November. DirecTV Now will comprise a bundle of more than 100 channels starting at $35 per month — aggressive price point that analysts say mean the over-the-top service will operate initially with a negative margin.
PS Vue also competes with Dish Network’s Sling TV, which starts at $20 per month for about 30 channels.
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