The ship has sailed for PlayStation Vue
Sad news for my fellow cord-cutters, especially if they are using Sony’s PlayStation Vue. While we knew the service was constantly losing content, I didn’t expect Sony to pull the plug on it. Which is what they announced today. As of Jan. 30th, 2020, PlayStation Vue is shutting down.
Over four years ago, we made a bold decision to change the rules and revolutionize the traditional TV-viewing experience in the U.S. with PlayStation Vue. We set the bar high and sought to innovate an established industry by delivering a modern TV experience. By completely rethinking live and on demand television, we offered an incredible user experience that allowed viewers to discover and watch content in completely new ways.
Today we are announcing that we will shut down the PlayStation Vue service on January 30, 2020. Unfortunately, the highly competitive Pay TV industry, with expensive content and network deals, has been slower to change than we expected. Because of this, we have decided to remain focused on our core gaming business.
PlayStation fans can continue to access movie and TV content through the PlayStation Store on PS4 and via our partnerships with top entertainment apps. With 100 million PlayStation 4s in the market today, our community continues to grow and thrive. We will continue to deliver the best entertainment experiences across the network, along with other key gaming services, including PlayStation Now and PlayStation Plus.
We are very proud of what PlayStation Vue was able to accomplish. We had ambitious goals for how our service could change how people watch TV, showcasing PlayStation’s ability to innovate in a brand-new category within the Pay TV industry. We want to thank all of our customers, some of whom have been with us since PlayStation Vue’s launch in 2015.
We appreciate your continued support as we move through this transitional period and look toward the future.
Now while Sony mentions you can access media content via the PS4 and other apps, that doesn’t help anyone who’s subscribed to PlayStation Vue.
As for myself, I was once subscribed to the service. that is until Google recently made YouTube TV accessible via Amazon Fire TV devices. For those who aren’t sure where to go from here, after using YouTube TV for a month now. I can safely say that this is everything that PlayStation Vue was and more. I know this doesn’t ease the pain of moving to another service, but it’s nice to see that once PS Vue finally shuts down that you won’t be left out in the cold.
With YouTube TV, you have the base price of $49.99 and you can subscribe via ala-carte to both Showtime and Starz. Sadly, HBO isn’t available, since they have HBO Go, HBO Now and their upcoming HBO Max service. YouTube TV also works with Roku, Apple TV, Samsung TVs, LG TVs, Xbox One, Chromecast, Android TV, iOS and Fire TV. It works on pretty much everything, except for the PlayStation 4. Hopefully they’ll support the console, seeing how PS Vue’s days are numbers.
You’ll have access to a DVR with unlimited storage, and shows are kept up to 9 months. The only thing I don’t like about YouTube TV is you can only watch on up to 3 screens. While PS Vue allowed up to 5. Other than that, it’s been great.
Recently it was rumored that Sony was looking to offload the PS Vue service to another company. I’m guessing that wasn’t possible, as pretty much every company that’s vested in the streaming wars already has something set up.
Seeing how Sony has kicked you to the curb, you might as well give YouTube TV a try with it’s 7-day free trial.
