Rivals to traditional cable have been sprouting up left and right over the last few years, with services like Netflix, Hulu, HBOGo and more convincing consumers to throw out their cable box and stream content from the ‘net. And if a new report from Variety is any indication, Sony is working on its own “multichannel TV service to rival cable.”
Variety terms Sony’s endeavor an MSO – or Multiple System Operator — and states that the company is seeking licensing for various channels and “that [the service] could roll out in the U.S. later this year.”
“Few specifics are known about the proposed service,” Variety admits, “but it would be a package of linear channels akin to what pay-TV distributors traditionally provide, only delivered via broadband connection. In contrast to the cable operators who are bound by a geographic footprint, a virtual MSO can conceivably offer TV service to any subscriber nationwide.”
Variety notes that “content and infrastructure” necessary for such an endeavor could cost Sony billions, money it doesn’t necessarily have at the ready considering its well-known (but improving) financial troubles. Then again, Sony has made investments even as the company was hemorrhaging money and laying off thousands of its employees, proven by its $380 million acquisition of cloud gaming firm Gaikai.
Interestingly, Variety reports that “it’s unclear whether Sony would have to create additional hardware to activate a multichannel service… or whether a deployment would even be restricted to Sony products.” However, should this rumor prove true, it’s safe to assume that, like Gaikai, Sony’s MSO is likely to be functional on Sony’s upcoming (but yet unannounced) new PlayStation console.
Though Variety got Sony’s standard “we don’t comment on rumors and speculation” line when they inquired for comment, we’ve reached out to Sony as well for clarification.
[Via IGN]
