LAS VEGAS – Don't tell Sony video-game makers can't play successfully in the OTT video market.
The company, which launched PlayStation Vue as the first OTT video skinny bundle (or virtual MVPD) service in the U.S. three years ago (and is still not yet available in Canada), sees no reason why it can't compete and thrive against such video industry heavyweights as AT&T (DirecTV Now), Dish Network (Sling TV), YouTube (YouTube TV) and Hulu (Hulu Live) in the increasingly crowded streaming market. Despite the growing number of virtual MVPDs, the company likes its prospects as the market grows.
Speaking at the NAB Show here last week, Dwayne Benefield, VP and head of PlayStation Vue, said his service is holding its own against its rivals by offering several differentiating features to consumers. These differentiators include allowing up to five simultaneous streams per account, enabling viewers to watch up to three linear channels at once, offering cloud DVR service and granting a la carte access to such popular premium services as HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, Fox Soccer Plus and Epix Hits, in addition to its four standard pay-TV packages.
“There is value in the bundle,” Benefield said in a keynote chat with industry analyst Dan Rayburn at the NAB Streaming Summit. But, he noted, as the market continues to fray, “you’ll see us add more a la cartes.”
Expounding on PS Vue's business model, Benefield explained that it was initially rooted to PlayStation 3 and 4 consoles in a select few U.S. markets. But, since that modest launch in March 2015, the service has extended its reach nationwide here and rapidly expanded distribution to a host of other video devices and streaming platforms.
In fact, Benefield said, about 70% of the PS Vue service streaming now takes place on devices other than the two core PlayStation game consoles. Besides the PS3 and PS4, the service is now supported on Android TV devices, Apple TV boxes, Amazon Fire TV devices, Roku players, Roku TVs, Chromecast streaming adapters and web browsers, as well as on Android and iOS mobile devices. So customers are now watching the service's offerings on TV sets, tablets, mobile phones, laptops and other video-enabled devices.
"I think [OTT TV] services can succeed without broadcast.” – Dwayne Benefield, Sony
Thanks to this diversity of devices and the service's support for up to five simultaneous streams per household, PS Vue has developed into a whole-home streaming service, Benefield said. He noted that PS Vue subs now average more than five hours of viewing per session, with live TV channels making up 80% of the viewing time.
Looking back at PS Vue's origins, Benefield recalled that the service started in a few markets where it could offer access to key local TV stations. But then it later launched a version of the service called “Slim” that enabled it to enjoy national reach and gave it a way to enter markets where it didn’t have access to live local stations (although it did feature next-day VOD access to certain broadcast TV shows).
Without disclosing any actual subscriber numbers, Benefield said Slim — which cost subs about US$40 a month, or $10 less than PS Vue's standard price — has proven to be “surprisingly successful.” As a result of that experiment, he believes that local TV is “valuable, but it’s not a make-or-break" offering. "I think [OTT TV] services can succeed without broadcast,” he said, noting that many consumers still have the option to get those local channels by hooking up a traditional TV antenna.
Benefield said PS Vue, which continues to add live local TV feeds in more markets, intends to add more features and other enhancements to the service. While he declined to spell out those planned enhancements, he pointed out that PS Vue updates its apps every two to three weeks. No word yet on when or if they plan to launch in Canada.
With PS Vue now facing off against at least five other nationwide virtual MVPDs and at least three more on the way from the likes of Verizon, T-Mobile and Vidgo, the skinny bundle business only promises to get more fiercely competitive. But Benefield claims not to be fazed by that. Nor does he expect many more players to jump into the game. “This is not a faint-of-heart business,” he said.
While some TV watchers have lauded the current era as the new “Golden Age of Television” because of the high-quality shows presented on some premium channels, Benefield doesn't think all TV programmers will share in the prosperity. Instead, he expects to see a winnowing of some channels that are unable to make the heavy investment in top-quality shows necessary to sustain a full-time service.
