Sony May Be Looking at IPTV Integration for Future Televisions
Sony’s TV business has been taking it on the chin for a while now and Sony has promised that it is going to turn things around. From the sounds of things Sony is planning on forging into the world of IPTV as a way of getting people excited about Sony televisions again, and perhaps extend the window of revenue generation for their TVs and other devices.
This service would cut cable companies out of the media delivery loop. According to the WSJ’s “people familiar with the situation,” Sony wants to license smaller bundles of channels than cable operators. That could present some problems. Media companies might not want to undercut the partnerships they have with cable and satellite outlets.
None of this IPTV talk should be surprising after Microsoft’s recent announcements concerning Xbox Live TV. Sony has repeatedly used their game consoles to push new media formats, but the next media format comes in the form of bits rather than discs and Sony is in danger of getting left behind this time. The focus at this point may be on Sony’s TVs, but Sony is going to be leveraging all of their manufacturing resources across all of their device families to field an online television service before Microsoft runs away with the show.