Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
PS Vue price increase
- Thread starter maflynn
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I never had Core Slim package available since the local NBC, CBS, ABC and FOX channels were already available in my area. So I have always paid $39.99 for the Access package. It does suck for those who were in the $35 plan since it competed very nicely with YouTube TV, Sling and DTV Now.
To me, the $5/month extra wouldn't make a huge difference. Although my wife and I have noticed that the streaming on PS Vue has encountered hiccups recently (streams freezing, force closing the app on ATV). Hopefully it isn't a sign of things to come, especially with CFB and NFL seasons right around the corner.
To me, the $5/month extra wouldn't make a huge difference. Although my wife and I have noticed that the streaming on PS Vue has encountered hiccups recently (streams freezing, force closing the app on ATV). Hopefully it isn't a sign of things to come, especially with CFB and NFL seasons right around the corner.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
How to make money in the video distribution business
What happens next? The other competitors ease their pricing up too. Eventually, we're paying just as much as we used to pay for "500 channels" while getting only 50 or so. And we generally pay more for broadband because we unbundled to "beat the man" (even if that "the man" is likely still the very same cable company that used to offer a bundle of broadband + cable for about the same total price). And thus our total out-of-pocket works it's way right back to where it was (or higher) for less channels, lower quality, no surround sound, feature-limited DVR, etc.
And "the man" eases broadband-only pricing up to replace the fading cableTV revenues (ultimately making at least as much as they make now providing both services), knowing that broadband is essential to ANY of these streaming options... and thus, where else are we going to go for broadband (when there is generally only a single provider in any given area)?
Then what happens? The streaming TV providers consolidate down to just a few players while pricing continues to rise- all blamed on the cost of programming of course. Lower-priced competitors are bought out by more dominating players until there is little competition. The names of the old cable companies change (unless the old cable companies are the ones who buy out the streaming companies) but the game remains the same.
Eventually, the group whine will be for the "good old days" when the same money for streaming got far more channels, at generally better quality, the vast majority with 5.1 surround sound instead of mono or stereo, a real & full-featured DVR, a unifying guide that would bring all programming together in one place, tools to hide any channels you didn't want to show in that guide, no video counted against ever-tightening broadband caps/tiers, etc.
We've seen this movie before... and we already know how it ends.
- Step 1: Make crazy low-ball price offers to lure in many bargain hunters. Persist this pricing for a while to get new users accustomed to your service.
- Step 2: Ease pricing up to see how many will stick (and just pay up) rather than bail.
- Step 3: Repeat step 2 in search of the optimal balance of retention & profitability-per-subscriber. If some price increase proves particularly painful, offer "introductory pricing" for short periods of time to simulate Step 1 only for new subscribers.
What happens next? The other competitors ease their pricing up too. Eventually, we're paying just as much as we used to pay for "500 channels" while getting only 50 or so. And we generally pay more for broadband because we unbundled to "beat the man" (even if that "the man" is likely still the very same cable company that used to offer a bundle of broadband + cable for about the same total price). And thus our total out-of-pocket works it's way right back to where it was (or higher) for less channels, lower quality, no surround sound, feature-limited DVR, etc.
And "the man" eases broadband-only pricing up to replace the fading cableTV revenues (ultimately making at least as much as they make now providing both services), knowing that broadband is essential to ANY of these streaming options... and thus, where else are we going to go for broadband (when there is generally only a single provider in any given area)?
Then what happens? The streaming TV providers consolidate down to just a few players while pricing continues to rise- all blamed on the cost of programming of course. Lower-priced competitors are bought out by more dominating players until there is little competition. The names of the old cable companies change (unless the old cable companies are the ones who buy out the streaming companies) but the game remains the same.
Eventually, the group whine will be for the "good old days" when the same money for streaming got far more channels, at generally better quality, the vast majority with 5.1 surround sound instead of mono or stereo, a real & full-featured DVR, a unifying guide that would bring all programming together in one place, tools to hide any channels you didn't want to show in that guide, no video counted against ever-tightening broadband caps/tiers, etc.
We've seen this movie before... and we already know how it ends.
Last edited:
Once again, Hobe...you have hit the nail on the head!
I have found it cheaper, easier and have more options (200 channels including ALL locals, DVR, multi-room units, 5.1 sound, etc) by just staying with AT&T U-verse. All (internet and tv service) for about $120/mo.
I have found it cheaper, easier and have more options (200 channels including ALL locals, DVR, multi-room units, 5.1 sound, etc) by just staying with AT&T U-verse. All (internet and tv service) for about $120/mo.
Not surprised by that, but by the same token, I was bummed out that I jumped on the streaming ship so late that I mostly missed the lower prices.
I'm still happy with the PS VUE, though if DirectTV Now offers broadcast channels that the PS VUE doesn't, then I may see about going with them. This is the benefit of these streaming services, not contract. I can switch whenever I want
Not surprised by that, but by the same token, I was bummed out that I jumped on the streaming ship so late that I mostly missed the lower prices.
I'm still happy with the PS VUE, though if DirectTV Now offers broadcast channels that the PS VUE doesn't, then I may see about going with them. This is the benefit of these streaming services, not contract. I can switch whenever I want
The only thing Vue has over the others here in Boston is NESN, so we went with them this past winter. As summer rolled in and the leaves filled in on the trees, our coverage of MeTV (channel 5.2) started getting worse. If one of the other packages would offer NESN and some of these second tier networks, I'd give them a shot. At least it would give Vue a downvote on the price change.
I'm not a huge baseball (or even hockey fan), so NESN means little to me. At the lower price 35 , I got nearly all the same channels that higher 50 dollar price that DirectTVNow offered. Plus I got DVR capability and could watch it on more then 2 screens.
Now that DirectTV Now is moving to add DVR, and I found that our watch habits are such that we only seem to watch on 1 or 2 tvs, the advantages of PS Vue don't seem all that much
Setting aside the whole legality issue, without live sports I could make due without any IPTV service and can stream any show I care to watch within 24 hours of its airing. Its the music industry happening all over again, with even greedier players this time. We don't really watch that much, so we could drop Vue and only get it for baseball and hockey playoff months (maybe 2-3 months a year... if the Red Sox and Bruins even make the playoffs). The Roku boxes would end up going unused and probably be replaced with Amazon FireTV boxes so we can watch free Prime movies and shows (unless the Amazon video app works to show Prime movies on the Roku... the Amazon music app only plays my purchased songs, not all of the free albums like our FireTV stick can play so I don't know how the video app will work). Vue did its job to wean us off cable TV. With the added step of having to select the Vue app and select a channel on the Roku, we spend more time with the OTA channels now, so maybe I can cut our expenses another $35/month.
One thing to add to this is that DTN will probably charge extra for the DVR service.
No one knows for sure yet if they will charge extra - but that's what most of the current talk suggests. If it's a decent service that allows for recording all channels, with lots of storage and retention time, and allows FF through commercials it might still be worth it.
I’ve been in the same boat - big Red Sox fan, so NESN is a must. I’m probably going to move to DTV and the lower price in non-baseball months once DVR is standard.