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The PlayStation Vue Thread

143K views 2K replies 198 participants last post by  tenthplanet 
#1 ·
SAN MATEO, Calif., Nov. 13, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Sony Network Entertainment International LLC (SNEI) and Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCE) today unveiled PlayStation™Vue, a pioneering new cloud-based TV service that reinvents the television experience.

"Everyday TV is about to become extraordinary with our new cloud-based TV service, PlayStation™Vue," said Andrew House, President and Group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. and Group Executive in charge of the Network Entertainment Business. "PlayStation™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. PlayStation™Vue brings the best of live TV and a robust catalog of the latest content, always keeping you connected to what's popular, new and trending. Today's announcement builds on the historic success of PlayStation®4 and demonstrates what our company is capable of when we embrace disruption and stay true to gamers."

Removing Barriers between Viewers and Content

PlayStation™Vue leverages the power of the cloud to combine the live, on-demand, and catch-up TV content viewers love with a powerful user interface that delivers unprecedented personalization and simplicity.

PlayStation™Vue immediately connects viewers to the content they want to watch, helps them easily access their favorite shows and channels, and recommends movies and shows based on their viewing habits and what's trending.
Discovering content is both simple and powerful with PlayStation™Vue. The smart "Search" feature narrows down results quickly and intuitively, and the powerful "Explore" function allows viewers to filter the entire catalog of live and on-demand content by type of program, genre, ratings, popularity, length and more.
PlayStation™Vue delivers catch-up and on-demand TV, freeing viewers to watch TV on their own schedules. The service makes the past three days of popular programming available without the need to schedule recordings.
Viewers can save their favorite shows to the cloud without storage restrictions or scheduling conflicts. Once viewers tag a favorite show, they will automatically have access to episodes of that show for 28 days so that they can watch on their own time.
PlayStation™Vue is simple to navigate and intuitive to use. By leveraging the power of the PlayStation® platform and controller, viewers are always one click away from quick access to watching, finding, and discovering content.
The Best Content on TV

During the invite-only beta, PlayStation™Vue will initially offer around 75 channels per market from the following major programmers, including local broadcast stations, so that viewers can enjoy their favorite movies, TV shows, and sports programs.

The following is a list of our current network partners, with additional partners to be announced in the future:

CBS – At launch, PlayStation®Vue will offer the live linear signal from CBS Television Network's owned-and-operated TV stations in select leading markets in addition to on-demand prime-time programming.
Discovery Communications – Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Investigation Discovery, Science, OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, Discovery Family Channel and 11 more brands.
Fox – Fox Networks Group's portfolio of national entertainment programming services, including - FX, FXX, FXM, National Geographic Channel and Nat Geo WILD. Additionally FOX Sports' national and regional programming services - FOX Sports 1, FOX Sports 2, BTN, Fox's regional sports networks, including YES Network and Prime Ticket. The agreement also covers Fox's owned and operated television stations.
NBCUniversal – All local offerings from NBC, Telemundo and regional sports networks as well as Bravo, CNBC, E!, NBCSN, Oxygen, Sprout, Syfy, USA Network and more.
Scripps Networks Interactive – HGTV, Food Network, Travel Channel, DIY Network and Cooking Channel.
Viacom – BET, CMT, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, PALLADIA, Spike, VH1 and more.
Transparent Pricing with No Commitments

Pricing and packaging details will be revealed at commercial launch but PlayStation™Vue is changing the rules for how people pay for subscription TV.

What you see is what you pay – fair and competitive price that is transparent with no hidden fees or charges.
No contracts – maximum flexibility as PlayStation™Vue will be offered on a month-to-month basis without any penalty or customer service hassles for cancellation.
No equipment or installation charges – with broadband internet service and a PlayStation®4 system or PlayStation®3 system, there's no need to install or rent any additional equipment.
Availability

PlayStation™Vue will begin an invite only beta preview during November for select PlayStation®4 and PlayStation®3 owners, with a phased rollout starting in New York followed later by Chicago, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles. The service will also become available on iPad® shortly thereafter, and later on more Sony and non-Sony devices.

PlayStation™Vue will launch commercially during the first quarter of 2015.
 
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#2 ·
Questions:

1) Will it only support one stream per subscription (like Dish's Sling TV)?
2) What is the price?
3) Any possibility Sony might change its mind and offer several smaller packages instead of just one large package?
4) When is the commercial launch?
 
#21 ·
I know this is an older post, but for the sake of future viewers to this thread I'll try to answer:

1. I've read it will support 3 active streams, but you can only use one PS4 at a time. The other two can be PS3s. This was before the announced support for Amazon Fire TV and Stick, so I'm not sure how those fit in but I am hoping they essentially count as PS3s.
2. Price currently per month is : Access @ 50, Core @ 55, Elite @ 65 (link)
3. See #2 , but 50 is a small as it gets
4. Vue has been released to many major metropolitan areas already, but is definitely not a nationwide service.


Is it possible to see Episode 1 (Season 5) of the Walking Dead via VUE ?

Reason I ask, is because I've seen all of Season 4, but haven't seen any episodes of Season 5. If I could start with episode 1, and see all the episodes, I'd definitely sign up for Vue, but don't think this is possible.
Vue is a live TV service, not an on-demand service. It does have some extra DVR like functionality that makes it unique.
"MyShows" is a way to tag and save shows just like a traditional DVR. Pros: There is no limit on how many shows get recorded simultaneously or total number of hours in storage. Cons: shows are only kept for 28 days.
If you forgot to save a recording there is a "catch-up" option. It doesn't sound like it's automatically enabled for every show, but if enabled you can watch any shows you missed from the past 3 days. As a previous person said, it looks like you cannot fast forward through commercials when you choose this option. I need to see what other caveats there are here.
 
#5 ·
28 days postponement is not enough for you?? LOL

For me personally, I never recorded any shows with my DVR when I still had one from Cox Cable. If I miss a live showing, "oh well". If a show or series is popular, then you can probably find it on Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, etc, so you don't need the PS Vue service. PS Vue is really for complementing those streaming services, not to replace it. It does plan to replace live broadcasts such as local shows and news (so that you don't have to subscribe to your cable company's basic package in order to just watch basic TV), and so being able to store these for a later viewing is already a PLUS over regular TV. This is the benefit that I am willing to pay for.
 
#6 ·
I'm currently watching DVR's from 11/25, so no, it is not enough for me. The point of a multi tuner DVR with 1TB of storage is so I do not have to be tied to watching something. The days of a 1 tuner, 20 hour DVR are long gone. If cloud storage want's to make it, they better figure this out.

End of the day, if I am paying for the service, I want to be able to watch a program when I get ready, not have it expire. I mean what is the point of cloud storage if not to watch when you want?
 
#8 ·
VERY interesting to hear about PS Vue but you guys need to keep a few things in mind. #1 . Let's try to give these companies (Sony & Dish Network) a little bit of a break. They are just starting out with this new service so everything is not going to be perfect. I hear so many quotes of people complaining about some of SlingTV's options, but they must start somewhere. OTT tv is new and Sling was looking at casting out the widest net possible to appeal to the widest audience. I hear people complain about being made to order sports but, when polled, most all people who said they wanted to cut the cord but have not, was because they would lose their sports channels. I understand not EVERYONE likes sports, but there are many who do. Same way not everyone will want Disney, Food Network, or HG-tv but those are some of the most popular channels out there when you look at our population as a whole. People also complain about not being able to watch on more than one device at a time, limited cloud storage, etc. Again, it's a NEW service. Just look at how many people out there share their HBO-GO passwords. Sling would be shooting itself in the foot if they offered this service on several devices because then people would just share passwords and they would lose out on potential customers. Satellite tv started out the same way and believe me, they WILL address this issue at some point.
Ok, now on to PS Vue specifically. Sony really needs to get on the ball and start releasing some more info about PS Vue. It was stated months ago it would be available in the first quarter of this year. We are in March and still haven't heard many of the important details about this service, MAINLY THE PRICE ! ! ! ! They could have the best features in the world, but if the price is too high (I'm hearing rumors of $60 - $80/month), I highly doubt many people will give it a chance. I live in Phoenix and most everyone I know already pays about $55-70/month just for the "cable" portion of their bill. You add on internet and services like HBO and Showtime and it gets much more pricey. I really hope Sony takes note of that because I don't see it being advantageous to leave having cable + internet and paying say $150/month to having ONLY internet tv (with data caps in place as well) and now having internet + PS Vue service and paying $130/month. You're paying a little less but you're also getting less as well on top of a possible issue with data caps if you watch A LOT of tv.
Just some things to keep in mind as we move forward into this new state of tv. We can all agree the cable companies are greedy monopolies and something new has to happen so we are not held captive by companies who usually offer sub-par service and overcharge for those services as well.
 
#9 ·
So, question: How many "accounts" are allowed to use this service?

They announced that the pricing will be in tiers of $50/$60/$70; which on the face is a little bit cheap for those looking to cord cut, since cable bundling destroys the point.

But, is it going to be like Netflix or HBOGO, where I can give out my account to my parents, brother, and sister and all 4 of us can swap id's for different services and possibly chip in to bring down the cost?

I think that will be a huge consideration for many, and haven't seen much talk on it.
 
#11 ·
Too expensive. I can get everything I really want from a combination of my OTA DVR, Netflix, Hulu and Amazon, supplemented with the odd TV season purchase for a LOT less money.
 
#12 ·
I have NO clue what Sony was thinking. If they priced this a $35month (maybe $40 but that's pushing it) it would be a viable cord cutting option and competitor for Sling TV but at $50 that more or very close to what other people already pay. Why switch from a dedicated signal with NO loss in quality and NO hits on your data cap to something that is all streaming?
 
#14 ·
$50 is just a way to stop eroding subscriber fees from their EXISTING content deals-keep the price high for the NEW service which competes with and may soon reaplace the OLD business model.
Sony has a loooooooooong way to go to bring the ship back on course of many years of content ownership which caused them to stop providing the consumer what they want to PAY for.
 
#17 ·
Is it possible to see Episode 1 (Season 5) of the Walking Dead via VUE ?

Reason I ask, is because I've seen all of Season 4, but haven't seen any episodes of Season 5. If I could start with episode 1, and see all the episodes, I'd definitely sign up for Vue, but don't think this is possible.
 
#18 ·
Limited On Demand



No, you will not be able to watch episode 1 until AMC reruns it.

I decided to try the 7 day trial of Vue, but will be cancelling for a few reasons, but one of them pertains to your question. Vue does offer On Demand for some shows, but it is very limited. Their On Demand service for most shows are labeled as Catch Up, meaning they only offer the latest episode that has aired. For The Walking Dead, it doesn't even offer that. It does give you the option to record every airing of the show, but you will have to wait until AMC airs episode 1 again.

My second big complaint with Vue and the DVR service is that it doesn't allow time shifting. Sure, you can pause and rewind live tv, but if you want to avoid commercials, you have to wait until the show is over before you begin. If you have it set to record a movie and you go to watch it while it's still airing, it only takes you to the point it is at live.

Third complaint is that it just won't play over my wireless network. I have a PS4 in the living room wired to the router and it operates perfectly, but my PS3 in the bedroom is unwatchable as it buffers every 30 seconds and it connects at about 7.5 Mb/s which is no problem for Netflix, Amazon Prime, Crackle or Vudu.

The biggest reason I will not be a subscriber is the price. For what you get, it isn't even close to worth it compared to the other options. $50, $60 or $70 per month depending on which channels you want is more than what I pay for basic cable plus HBO and the only channel it adds that I would want is AMC, and with Netflix carrying the Walking Dead, I don't even need that.
 
#20 ·
I'm shocked there is very little activity in this thread. I can see the main reservation is the price, but I think the features they are offering here is a good stepping stone for some cord cutters.

I currently have Uverse and pay over 130 a month for TV. That does include HBO, but we rarely use it. The kicker for my household is we have some tough requirements:

1. 3 total TVs in which 2 are often in use. We don't want to fight over who gets to use which streaming service at any given time.
2. Wife (and I) really like our DVR.
3. We like our local channels too, and on all three TVs.
4. I pretty much will do anything for AMC and the Walking dead. I am OK with 24 hour delay, but not 1 season delay.


We already have Amazon Prime, one PS4, and one Amazon Fire TV. If I sign up with the Core plan, Vue will also give me a free fire stick. So yeah for zero upfront costs to cut the cord.

I know the Vue service can only run on one PS4 at once, which works for me, but I still need to confirm if the Amazon fire TV and Stick will function as "PS3" in accordance with their number of device steaming policy.

This will save me 71 bucks per month with zero contract, and I view it as a easier transition from UVerse. If it doesn't work out, I figure I can then look into hulu, OTA antennas and Tablo or it's equivalent and likely save even more money. I did consider Sling, but with only one streamable device at a time with no DVR capabilities it doesn't seem like the right thing for us. I'll always have netflix on backup for the walking dead, or individual episodes via amazon prime in an emergency.

What am I missing?
 
#25 ·
I've been on Vue for about 3 weeks now. I am using 2 Fire TV's , and occasionally use a Ipad or PS4 to watch too. My thoughts:

Pros:
Full full channel guide on PS4 is nice.
Amazon Fire TV's work well. Image quality is great, and I'm on WIFI n-band currently. (I will be switching to wired as soon as my Uverse subscription ends next week).
DVR fast forward/ pause functionality is pretty responsive for a cloud service. Getting it going to 4x or 8x speed takes a second, but it gets back to streaming video very quickly after hitting play.
You can have multiple users on your account. Each with their own "my shows". I no longer have to dig through Kardashian or Housewives from wherever shows my wife watches. I still have to sit with her on the couch when she watches said programs though.


Cons:
No channel guides on non-playstation devices, yet. Though they claim it's coming.
Still waiting on ABC to arrive. ESPN too for those who want sports (I don't care).
Several programs have been blocked from live TV watching because the host channel did not allow Vue to stream it. You get a "program not available" message instead of the program you wanted to watch. I haven't encountered it much, but fear I may have just been lucky. Programs blocked this far: Golden globe awards. The Walking Dead re-runs on some random channel. I *think* the DVR/MyShows feature will work around this to let you watch it later, but I haven't confirmed either way.
I would like a little more finesse in the DVR. When fast-fowarding with a local Uverse DVR, it recognizes that you may not have split second reaction time. It actually backs you up a little bit from the last fast forward image displayed which is nice. With Vue, it starts playing from exactly when you hit the play button which means you frequently have to backup a few seconds to catch the start of the scene.
No more universal remote! You'll need to find your TV remote and keep that handy in addition to your Playstation or Fire TV controller. Amazon Fire TV does have a phone app that works very well!

Overall Thoughts:
1.You can't ding the service for not being in your area. I can't say google gigabit fiber sucks because they aren't in my area either.
2. The cost may not make financial sense to everybody, but my situation the Vue is 33% of what I was paying before!
3. It's a great stepping stone to more ala carte services. Going straight to Hulu and Netflix with OTA local channels with Tablo DVR only for local channels would have probably been too much for my wife. Happy Wife Factor is high with Vue. She wants quick and easy and familair, without fussing with launching and searching multiple apps.

I'd give it a 3.7/5
 
#26 ·
Guide is now available on the FireTV so this is starting to become my de facto service for my "cable" TV needs. I'm astonished how good this service is becoming as each day passes. I have even knocked down my DirecTV and TWC services as low as I can go to migrate exclusively to Vue. The only thing holding back going to 100% Vue is the lack of ABC/Disney/ESPN. My third FireTV is scheduled to arrive today so I'll be ready to go to use it as my primary source. I will keep my TiVo Bolt though, as a means to view and record my local networks in HD, which is 80% of what we watch actually. I'll use the FireTVs for streaming apps and Vue for Philly sports and cable type shows. It's just awesome that I can buy $85 (on sale at Amazon and BB) boxes and use them all over the house for live TV and OTT/VoD/On-Demand with only a small $65/month charge plus whatever streaming apps you decide on (which I had anyway with cable and sat). This is what I've been searching for since I moved here! If they ever get to TiVo level trick play and interaction I'd be in Heaven!

I'm starting to think there's some conspiracy going on with Vue to keep it down. If you haven't tried it for awhile, I suggest you try it again, especially on FireTV and/or PS4.
 
#27 ·
Yeah, it's been almost 4 months since Sony announced that ABC was going to be a partner. I wish they would get with it already. My wife was a little upset at missing the Oscar's last night.
 
#28 ·
#33 ·
Well, it's official and now nationwide with new skinny bundles!:


Sony finally expands Vue service nationwide, offers 'Slim' versions starting at $30 a month

Monday, March 14, 2016 | By Daniel Frankel

Sony has finally deployed its year-old PlayStation Vue pay-TV service nationwide, offering a revised set of programming tiers that starts at $30 a month.

A virtual pay-TV service that offers the immediate sign-up and no-CPE benefits of SVOD products like Netflix, Vue had previously been confined to major metropolitan areas like New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.

Starting today, consumers in 203 TV markets across the nation have access to the service. After slashing the three existing Vue programming tiers by $10 a month two weeks ago, Sony is now debuting a reconfigured set of tiers, under the PlayStation Vue Slim banner, to the newly added regions.

The Slim tiers won't have live access to local broadcast affiliates, but users still have next-day, on-demand access to the major broadcast networks, however.

"We were intent on bringing this valuable service to broader reach as quickly as possible," said Dwayne Benefield, VP and head of PlayStation Vue for Sony Network Entertainment International, told Variety. "With the assortment of channels we have now, we feel we are strong alternative to current pay-TV providers and new entrants."

The base-level "Access Slim" will run $30 a month and feature about 55 channels, while the Core Slim package will add regional sports networks and feature 70 total channels. The "Elite Slim" will run $45 a month and feature not only RSNs, but premium movie channels.

Sony announced price cuts to its three existing tiers two weeks ago, reducing the monthly nut for its base-level package to $40 a month.

Earlier, Sony announced a deal with Disney that brought access to ESPN networks. These moves addressed to key criticisms of the platform early on, as it sought to become an alternative to traditional pay-TV services.

"For us, it's about having the right content for what we feel is our target demographic," Benefield added. "We felt when we launched, the live local broadcasts were paramount, but our customers have been clamoring for these packages – most of the customer service calls that were coming in were, 'Hey, when is it coming to my city?'"

For more:
- read this Sony press release
- read this Associated Press story
- read this Variety story
 
#41 ·
Did I understand their announcement of the new "slim' packages correctly...that they are only available in the new, nationwide markets? When I look at what packages are available to me based on my location (DFW), I don't get any slim options? So I'm stuck paying $10 more each month even though I get local networks ota? That just seems a bit odd to me.
 
#43 ·
I'm thinking it has to do with rights and contracts for those areas that Sony made with the powers that be. I'm sure when they signed the contracts in the original areas that they're obliged to include the local networks for subscribers in those areas. Maybe just look it at it like you're paying for the convenience of having all your TV watching in one place, as well as DVR service which you wouldn't get with OTA unless you happened to also have your own DVR like a TiVo or Channel Master.
 
#42 ·
How is the audio quality with Vue on a PS4? I know it is 2.0 only, which sucks, and that it sends it out as 5.1 so you can't even use ProLogic processing but, how does it sound to those who have used the services. This is the biggest drawback to the service IMO, I don't understand why Sony launch without 5.1 and they should know HT stuff. CBS All Access did the same thing, launched with only 2.0 but, it is crappy tin can sounding 2.0 and their VQ sucks when compared to Netflix (I compared some Trek episodes). Netflix, Hulu, Vudu, iTunes, Amazon Prime, HBO Go, even Sling TV all do 5.1 (and many others), why would you launch with only 2.0 these days.

Anyway, just looking for some opinions on the AQ. I'm planning on do my free trial next week during spring break so I'll have plenty of time to mess with it but, 2.0 audio could be the reason I don't subscribe.
 
#44 ·
I just found out about this from the CNET article, so I am looking for a player. We have one Chromecast now, but I might also get an Amazon Fire TV or Fire TV Stick. I might ultimately want to connect it to a Slingbox 500. Of the devices that work with PlayStation Vue currently, do any certain devices work better than others with the Slingbox 500? For example, would all of them allow use of the remote control function through the Slingbox 500?

http://www.cnet.com/news/sonys-play...e-goes-nationwide-now-starts-at-30-per-month/
 
#45 ·
Definitely the FireTV Box, if the remote function works. I'm not sure since it's bluetooth though. FTV Box has worked so much better for me than the FTV Stick since it has wired ethernet, so stays a lot more stable for the stream and allows better, more responsive trick play controls. To be clear though, this was the original FTV Stick, not the newer one, but I still prefer wired over wireless any day of the week, especially for something like your streaming TV watching experience.

One thing to consider is whether HDCP would be an issue with the HDMI output. You can always use one of those HDMI splitters that strips HDCP though.

Another device would be a PS4, but that seems too clunky to me, but may be your only option for controlling the remote I think. PS3 is a less than optimal Vue experience for me and others from what I've read.
 
#50 ·
so i keep seeing these commercials and now i am very interested in it.

Right now, I pay about $250/month for tv/internet/phone :( **although i do pay for premium services
Anyway- im thinking, would it be cheaper for me to just pay for my internet on its own, ditch the phone (somehow), and use my ps4 and a fireTV for the $55 a month.

My biggest concern however, is that the audio is only 2.0? Thats a major bummer...
 
#51 ·
Has anyone had IP issues while using the service. When I go to sign up it says I'm in Birmingham but, I live in Montgomery (90 miles away). It gives you the option of changing the detected zip but warns that it must match my IP zip and cc billing zip. Says discrepancies could result in Vue being blocked on my account. If my IP is always detected as Birmingham then it will never match my cc billing but, if I change my zip then it will not match my IP zip. I just don't see how this will work plus, what happens when Charter changes my IP?
 
#654 ·
what happens when Charter changes my IP?
This continues to be a dramatic weakness in Vue. About two months ago my Internet provider's modem went belly-up, and I had to reboot it. Wouldn't you know that I was handed a brand new IP, --

-- and my Vue account was completely disabled as a result. I had to call Customer Service and it took them almost an hour to get that straightened out. Sony really needs to rethink how that works.

In addition, there's always the potential problem, which you have brought up, of zip conflict. The fact is that one can live in a city but be given an IP address by one's provider that's in a neighboring city. In fact, once, when I connected through T-Mobile, I got a Kansas IP, even though I'm in NYC! Sony doesn't seem to understand that aspect of this technology; they really need to deal with this.
 
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