Sony shutting down PSVue Jan 30 2020
https://blog.us.playstation.com/2019/10/29/sony-interactive-entertainme…
Sony has announced it's shutting down PSVue the end of January...what are the best alternatives?
October 29th, 2019 at 7:12 PM ^
Crap. Vue IMO has the best selection of channels for sports for its price point. I had Hulu live and I dropped it for directv now. Then DTV now increased its price to point where uverse was cheaper. I also hated the dvr and guide on my firestick. I have been with Vue since last winter. I am going to try YouTube TV.
October 29th, 2019 at 7:23 PM ^
I have ATT/DirecTVNow. I've had it since it was rolled out and still have the original package. I almost switched to YoutubeTV but they didn't have a Roku app yet.
Good to know next time I get angry with AT&T.
October 29th, 2019 at 7:23 PM ^
i switched to YouTube tv this year because psvue kept jacking their price up. i prefer the interface with psvue but i find the services comparable. a hell of a lot better than slingtv
October 29th, 2019 at 7:38 PM ^
Crap. I've had PSVue+Roku for 3 plus years. Sounds like the concensus is YTTV.
It looks like I can get an internet+TV package from my cable company for $20/mo less than the unbundled internet from cable plus YTTV subscription, at least for a year. Channel lineup is the same for what I care about. I lose mobile streaming, but rarely do that anyway. What else will I regret if I plug the cord back in?
October 29th, 2019 at 10:19 PM ^
October 29th, 2019 at 10:55 PM ^
Great product, but the writing was on the wall. Sony was operating completely out of its depth with Vue. For all of the other VMVPD providers, their respective offerings somehow fit within their core product strategy. Google owns the world's most popular streaming video platform. Hulu TV is a joint venture between some of the world's largest content providers. Sling TV is a pet project of Dish Network. Ditto for DirecTV with DirecTV Now. All of these services hemorrhage money, but they're experiments that serve a long-term purpose. With PlayStation Vue, it's unclear what Sony was trying to accomplish. They're not a streaming video company, they're not an MVPD, and they're not a TV network. Using PlayStation Vue as a vehicle for selling more PlayStations (if that's what they were trying to do) would be like Toyota trying to sell more cars by introducing its own line of tires. And their brain-dead branding and clueless marketing made it difficult for them to attract subscribers.
In short: right product, wrong company.
October 30th, 2019 at 12:02 AM ^
As you mentioned, all of the streaming TV providers are losing money, not just Sony. I'm in the space and talked not long ago with the head of content acquisition for one of the platforms you listed. They said they were hemorrhaging money, but it was a market share play for them, as it is for all the survivors. AT&T lost 1.3 million subscribers over the past quarter, and it's accelerating. They've lost more than 5 million subscribers since 2016.
Think about that...
However, this is where the market is going, and in to probably skinnier bundles that you pick, where you might pay $25 for 20 a la carte channels, instead of $50 for 70 channels.
October 30th, 2019 at 12:22 AM ^
Agreed — the Hulu interface is abysmal. Beyond that, the service is mostly fine, but the streaming quality sometimes falls short of PlayStation Vue. I have Hulu because my wife likes it, but I wouldn’t recommend it.
October 30th, 2019 at 3:20 PM ^
I would say either YouTubeTV or HuluTV. I've tried both, and both are good, although I'd give YouTubeTV the edge for the unlimited cloud-based DVR. My brother hooked me up with a free add on subscription not long ago. Thanks, brotato chip!!
October 30th, 2019 at 7:43 PM ^
Another vote for YouTube TV and a Roku. It has all the channels including the BTN Network. The DVR is unlimited and although they say that content expires, I don’t think mine has ever deleted/erased any content and I’ve had it for a few years now.