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Sony Looking to Cut Out Cable Providers with Web-Based TV Service

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Apr 12, 2001
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Last week, we noted that Sony was working hard on efforts to change the way users interact with and view content on their television sets, with CEO Howard Stringer openly acknowledging that the company was trying to find a way to compete with Apple's integrated ecosystem that is expected to expand to include television sets in the relatively near future.

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The Wall Street Journal now reports that Sony is working on the next phase of its efforts, seeking to launch a Web-based alternative to traditional TV that would skirt around cable companies' control of the market.
Sony is proposing to beam the channels over Internet connections to Sony-made devices, including PlayStation gaming consoles, TV sets and Blu-ray players, the people said. Sony has sold about 18.1 million PlayStation 3 consoles in the U.S. alone, according to NPD Group Inc., and many homes have other Internet-connected Sony devices.
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Sony has reportedly reached out to a number of content providers, including Comcast NBCUniversal, Discovery, and News Corp., in attempt to strike deals to offer their shows on the service.
One stumbling block could be Sony's desire to license a smaller bundle of channels than existing cable operators offer to undercut the incumbents on price and flexibility, according to people familiar with the matter. That could be a nonstarter for media companies, which would prefer not to undercut their biggest customers.
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The report notes that Apple made a similar effort several years ago, seeking to put together a "best of TV" package for delivery to viewers via iTunes, but those negotiations failed to produce a deal after content providers refused to budge on their demands for bundling channels together.

Apple clearly remains interested in the television market, with rumors of a Siri-enabled TV set launching in late 2012 or early 2013. It is not entirely clear what efforts Apple may continue to pursue on the content side of the TV market to complement the hardware and software, but just two months ago the company was said to have developed a "new technology to deliver video to televisions". As part of that work, the company was said to still have an interest in offering some sort of subscription TV packages.

Article Link: Sony Looking to Cut Out Cable Providers with Web-Based TV Service
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2011/11/16/sony-looking-to-cut-out-cable-providers-with-web-based-tv-service/
Thanatoast

Thanatoast

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Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X; en_US) AppleWebKit (KHTML, like Gecko) Mobile [FBAN/FBForIPhone;FBAV/4.0.2;FBBV/4020.0;FBDV/iPhone4,1;FBMD/iPhone;FBSN/iPhone OS;FBSV/5.0.1;FBSS/2; FBCR/AT&T;FBID/phone;FBLC/en_US;FBSF/2.0])

Sony could be a success on a small scale but I think Apple's more like to win the masses.
 
E

emvath

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Jan 5, 2009
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Someone needs to find a way to give us what we all want. Ala carte TV. I only want like 4-5 different channels total.
 
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voltes

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Jun 16, 2009
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That's the problem when you have a monopoly on cable television per city. I wish there was other choices so prices can be competitive. We get suckered to pay a lot since we have no choice.
 
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sammaffei

macrumors member
Nov 16, 2011
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This all falls flat on it's face...

...when your service provider limits your data to 250Gb a month. TV via the web will easy hit that cap when someone in your house has the set on most of the day.

The cable company still controls the pipe.
 
0098386

0098386

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Sounds like a good idea. There are plenty of Sony consoles, devices and such that could support this.

I don't want to subscribe to Sky and I'd rather have BT Infinity than Virgin, so I'm basically stuck with Freeview for now. Depending on the image quality (1080p plz) and content I might bite.

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sammaffei said:
...when your service provider limits your data to 250Gb a month. TV via the web will easy hit that cap when someone in your house has the set on most of the day.

The cable company still controls the pipe.
Click to expand...

Can't you switch provider? I've been through 6 ISPs before I settled on my current one (BT Infinity with no bandwidth). Surely there's an unlimited bandwidth option available?
 
croooow

croooow

macrumors 65816
Jul 16, 2004
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I like the idea, but it will be a while before this is feasible for "regular" TV watchers.

I rarely watch TV (Meaning going to a Television in my house connected to a "set top box" to watch the programs I enjoy. I watch most of those on my computer. I do use my TV for movies that are streamed or on a DVD/Blu-Ray) I think right now the only shows I actually watch on my TV are Fringe, Breaking Bad and Walking Dead.
 
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24601

macrumors member
Jul 15, 2011
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The potential interface worries me...

The user interface on the Sony Blu-Ray player we have is absolutely horrible. It feels like a poorly implemented 8-bit UI built on top of an old MS-DOS. The icons and lists are not in intuitive lists and when I put in a disk I just hope the movie launches rather than bringing up their main screen. Hopefully they've got someone fixing that.
 
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rmwebs

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Apr 6, 2007
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Thanatoast said:
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X; en_US) AppleWebKit (KHTML, like Gecko) Mobile [FBAN/FBForIPhone;FBAV/4.0.2;FBBV/4020.0;FBDV/iPhone4,1;FBMD/iPhone;FBSN/iPhone OS;FBSV/5.0.1;FBSS/2; FBCR/AT&T;FBID/phone;FBLC/en_US;FBSF/2.0])

Sony could be a success on a small scale but I think Apple's more like to win the masses.
Click to expand...

Not at the current rate. AppleTV isn't a success, and thats fact. At the moment Sony has the advantage of having the hardware already in place in many peoples homes, Apple does not.
 
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Tiger8

macrumors 68020
May 23, 2011
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This is the future

Thanks to the iPhone we are already using the internet for iMessaging, Facetime, Skyping

If Sony (or Apple, or whomever) can actually do that, were you can pick channels ala-cart and stream them online, then we are done with traditional broadcasting.

Dish Network is actually doing something very similar; you no longer need to put an UGLY dish on your rooftop, you can just stream channels on the internet:

http://dishworldiptv.com/
 
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Thunderhawks

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Feb 17, 2009
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emvath said:
Someone needs to find a way to give us what we all want. Ala carte TV. I only want like 4-5 different channels total.
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Not to worry, Steve was on it:)

Already the younger mobile generations "consume" TV in a much different way than the TV execs and providers want them to.

We cut out commercials, DVR stuff to skip things and watch on our schedule, stream etc.etc.

All only a matter of time.

A la carte will be coming.
 
designs216

designs216

macrumors 65816
Oct 26, 2009
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Down the rabbit hole
+1 sammaffei
"... The cable company still controls the pipe."

And Ma Bell controls the other mainstream delivery method. I don't believe the monopolies are worried.
 
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ProVideo

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Jun 28, 2011
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With Comcast owning NBC-Universal, the only way I see Apple, Sony, or someone else infiltrating this is by partnering with cable/satellite companies to produce the boxes or tvs that provide the content like Motorola has done with cable company boxes. Otherwise, since the cable & satellite companies own much of the content and channels, they will make it their goal to destroy anything that is trying to compete with their iron grip on the industry.

The cable and DVR boxes Motorola make are horrible. If Apple or Sony can make an elegant and easy to use replacement for them, they will have much to gain.

It's just a question of will you buy the box, or will the cable companies still want you to rent it from them, as that's where a large chunk of their profits come from.

It would be nice if Apple could get the cable industry to change and lessen it's methods of control like they did to the telecom industry.
 
PinkyMacGodess

PinkyMacGodess

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The report notes that Apple made a similar effort several years ago, seeking to put together a "best of TV" package for delivery to viewers via iTunes, but those negotiations failed to produce a deal after content providers refused to budge on their demands for bundling channels together.
Click to expand...

Which is why I have something like 15 channels of sports on U-Verse and never watch them but I'm sure I pay through the a$$ for them.

Isn't part of the problem with out of sight sports salaries the money that the teams get from the networks like ESPN?

So, un-bundle ESPN, etc, and watch sports salaries plummet. Kill two birds with one stone?
 
R

russweb72

macrumors newbie
Mar 17, 2010
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South West Louisiana
sammaffei said:
...when your service provider limits your data to 250Gb a month. TV via the web will easy hit that cap when someone in your house has the set on most of the day.

The cable company still controls the pipe.
Click to expand...

not to mention most isp's are the cable company. I see where this could be easily stifled through controlling internet bandwidth.
 
J

JAT

macrumors 603
Dec 31, 2001
6,473
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Mpls, MN
sammaffei said:
...when your service provider limits your data to 250Gb a month. TV via the web will easy hit that cap when someone in your house has the set on most of the day.

The cable company still controls the pipe.
Click to expand...

Hasn't for me, yet. We're usually running at least one Netflix or Hulu stream all the time, if not 3 of them. I think people don't realize just how low the quality, and therefore stream size requirements, are for most online video, even HD versions.

My question is how much does Sony want for this? Because it's probably going to be too close to cable, anyway. So then they are just another cable provider of sorts, with (almost certainly) worse offerings.
 
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samcraig

macrumors P6
Jun 22, 2009
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USA
Dagless said:
Can't you switch provider? I've been through 6 ISPs before I settled on my current one (BT Infinity with no bandwidth). Surely there's an unlimited bandwidth option available?
Click to expand...

Not everyone can. Right now I'm on TWC here in NYC and they don't cap. However - I don't have a real choice for providers as the building has a contract with TWC.

Many buildings - at least in NYC are the same. They have contracts with either RCN or TWC.
 
D

Dcuellar

macrumors regular
Feb 24, 2010
245
6
This is great news. The more companies interested in this market the better for us as consumers. My cable bill just hiked up in price and it is getting annoying that I really don't have much of an option. I'm considering cutting it altogether and just getting internet and HULU Plus.
 
ironpony

ironpony

macrumors regular
Oct 28, 2011
186
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md
I could easily pick 10 channels and live with that!

Why am I paying for 500 channels? or more.

Interesting times ahead.

What year was it that the head patent office guy quit because he believed everything had been invented?
 
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