Vue increases price plans by $10 per month
Sony announced late Thursday night that it is raising prices to all PlayStation Vue subscriptions by $10 per month.
The company is also eliminating its entry level “Slim” plan. Existing customers will be able to keep their current price for three billing cycles until Oct. 28.
It marked the first time that Sony has changed its price structure in roughly a year. Subscribers in roughly a half dozen major markets like New York, Los Angeles and Chicago were already paying $10 more per month.
The company offered no explanation or warning regarding the price change. Customers across the U.S. began learning of the price increase from emails that Sony began sending out last night. Subscribers took to Reddit to complain about the change in rates.
The price change has left some customers wondering if the live streaming service still retains the same value as an alternative to cable TV.
Whether competitors in the live streaming market will try to lure away Vue customers remains to be seen.
Last month, fuboTV seized upon Sony’s decision to drop beIN Sports from its lineup by offering a 40 percent discount to new subscribers. BeIN Sports airs exclusive coverage of La Liga, Ligue 1, Serie A and the English Football League. That sale was essentially extended through most of the summer.
Will PlayStation Vue price change cause sales among competitors?
Sony has largely been silent about its future plans with PlayStation Vue, a main contender against Sling TV and DirecTV Now and other emerging competitors. Within two years, the service created the best Cloud DVR among competitors, and roughly 64 TV Everywhere apps, the highest among competitors.
And for now, the reach of its competitors remains somewhat limited.
YouTube TV is available in a small number of cities. Hulu remains in beta and works on a small number of streaming devices with no support yet for Amazon Fire TV or Roku. But yesterday, Hulu announced adding HBO to its channel lineup.
DirecTV Now is adding dozens of local broadcast channels. The company has been aggressively trying to lure customers back with a 7-day free trial and perks. One promotion offers a free Roku Premiere for customers who buy two months of DirecTV Now service.
PlayStation Vue adding local CBS and Fox affiliates
Last week, Sony added 17 more Fox affiliates in major markets like Denver and Seattle, according to Fiercecable.com.
In January, Vue subscribers also saw 20 CBS affiliates and was leading the pack among its competitors with live, local channels including affiliates from NBC and ABC.
NEW FOX AFFILIATES
- Baltimore – FOX 45
- Cleveland-Akron (Canton) – FOX 8
- Columbus, Ohio – FOX 28
- Denver – FOX 31
- Hartford & New Haven, Connecticut – FOX 61
- Indianapolis – FOX 59
- Kansas City, Missouri – FOX 4
- Milwaukee, Wisconsin – FOX 6
- Nashville, Tennessee – FOX 17
- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – FOX 53
- Portland, Oregon – FOX 12
- Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto – FOX 40
- Salt Lake City – FOX 13
- San Antonio – FOX San Antonio
- San Diego – FOX 5
- Seattle-Tacoma – Q13 FOX
- St. Louis – FOX 2
Founder and Editor of The Cord Cutting Report. Before launching the site in 2016, he worked for more than two decades as a staff writer or correspondent for a number of daily newspapers, including The Boston Globe. His enthusiasm for tech began with the Atari 2600. Follow @james_kimble
I was blind-sided by this rate increase. To make it worse, they said my membership had been cancelled because I hadn’t funded it- so I didn’t qualify for the 3 months at the old price program. This happened despite my having selected the option to fund my wallet automatically from PayPal. When I called, they explained that I needed to also provide a credit card number, which they had never said before.
I’ve cancelled my VUE subscription and returned to SlingTV, which has not (yet) increased their rates. Corporations today are out of control.
I can only exactly compare what is going on for me using my entry level slim plan (previously now) from what I can see on the site for new pricing. What they have done is drop the slim plan and the same exact channels I had before are now called the previous step up plan which is access. So access went down on it’s channel lineup but stayed the same price, $10 more than I had been paying. It may in effect be just for the ota networkless areas. This may be their way of softening the addition of those instead of the sudden $10 increase although it is a $10 increase with in my area still with only the fox network, no abc, cbs or nbc. Although I have a feeling those may be here real soon. I am not happy that I have no choice to have a plan with no networks as I can get them free off my antenna. But I think still another way to get more money from us. As far as the service I use a firestick which may be garbage so hard to tell for sure by that but the picture and smooth play seem great. The browser app leave a lot to be desired. Stuttery play and flash player crashes along with other glitches. Not to mention ID access problems etc.
It is NOT a price increase for all subscribers. These are the rates PS VUE subscribers in cities with local channels already pay. The price increase is ONLY for cities that don’t yet have locals–and is likely because so many affiliate agreements have been signed this year in new cities.
The only thing worse than a troll, is a clueless troll. For example, the DC market has had local channels for well over a year, yet rates here are going up 25% anyway, and despite the fact that we’ve actually lost 15 other channels over time since this clown car started. I’m sure I won’t be the only one dumping them in October. Sony’s greed will be their undoing.
No. I am in Houston. My PS Vue HAS local channels. I am on the highest (most expensive) rate service plan. And I received an email from them approx 2 months ago telling me that they will be raising my rates. So no. Everbody is getting a price increase . Those in cities who have always had local channels (such as Houston) are also getting a price increase.