@brianstelter
Cable TV without a cable box or an aggravating installation appointment is about to become a reality.
On Thursday, Sony announced an Internet cable service it calls Vue. It is accessible through Sony PlayStation consoles and mimics the kind of TV bundle that companies likeComcast (CCV) and Time Warner Cable (TWC) have traditionally sold in the United States.
A testing period will begin this month, and the service will become widely available in the first quarter of 2015.
Sony (SNE) describes Vue as a "cloud-based TV service." That means cable channels like Discovery, FX and MTV will be delivered via the Internet to subscribers' big-screen TVs. The PlayStation console will serve as the set-top-box.
Sony says Vue will have "the best content on TV." But it's missing some big names, including Disney-owned channels like ESPN and Time Warner-owned channels like CNN. (Time Warner (TWX) also owns this web site.)
The bundle will have Fox's sports channels, like Fox Sports 1, but not Fox News. It'll have the CBS broadcast network in some cities, but not in others.
Sony is the first company to announce a launch plan for "cloud-based TV," but it probably will not be the last.
The concept of a bundle of cable channels purchased online just like Netflix may change how television is delivered in the years to come.
Dish Network (DISH) is working on a similar service. And traditional players like Comcast might feel compelled to start selling TV this way, too.
Right now cable companies like Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Charter only provide TV in the local markets where they have physical cables. Sony's Vue foreshadows a day when many companies could compete to sell TV bundles.
Think of it as BYOB, or "bring your own broadband" -- you'd still need a separate wired or wireless Internet subscription.
In a news release on Thursday, Sony said Vue "will be offered on a month-to-month basis without any penalty or customer service hassles for cancellation."
What Sony left out is how much Vue will cost. But it said the price would be "fair and competitive."
Fundamentally, the pitch for "cloud-based TV" isn't about saving money versus traditional cable TV, it's about gaining convenience.
"Vue reinvents the traditional viewing experience so your programming effortlessly finds you, enabling you to watch much more of what you want and search a lot less," the executive in charge of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., Andrew House, said in a statement.
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