Cutting the Cord: Customers gain clout in cloud TV moves

Another week, another series of signs of disruption in the traditional pay-TV paradigm.

Sure, last week I talked about how the times are changing in the TV industry, with many pay-TV subscribers jumping ship. And CBS catered to online video devotés with its free 24-7 CBSN online news service — its second of two recent Net TV ventures, the other being the subscription-based CBS All Access.

But the developments just keep on coming and, for the most part, consumers should be pleased at the accelerated pace of change.

And now Sony has lifted the cover on its upcoming cloud TV service, PlayStation Vue, and its planned arrival in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and L.A. in the first quarter of 2015. A test run is set for later this month in New York.

Content providers Sony has approached over the past year during the development of Vue have been increasingly willing to discuss terms — evidence that big content companies see the need to move beyond traditional pay-TV offerings.

"There's clearly shifts in consumer habits that are already happening. What we have tried to do is get a good handle on what those are and try to embrace them," said Sony Computer Entertainment President and Group CEO Andrew House. "This has really helped us get this service together. You are seeing an awful lot of content owners responding to that and thinking differently about how they are going to provision their content. Just in the last couple of weeks you have seen HBO (and) CBS make announcements. That sense of fluidity or flexibility has really helped the dynamic of bringing something like this to bear."

So far, Sony has CBS, Discovery, Fox, NBCUniversal, Scripps Networks Interactive and Viacom on board. Viewers will be able to watch local and national live broadcasts as well as on-demand and cloud-saved programs, initially via the PlayStation 4 and PS3 video-game consoles.

While Sony didn't announce a price for the monthly, no-contract service, tech news site Re/code estimated a monthly price tag of $60-$70. If that's true, that may be the only downer of a development, because those who are looking to escape $100 pay-TV bills will see things quickly add up.

Throw in your Internet access, which could be $70 a month and, say, Netflix, for another $9 and that's more than a typical pay-TV bill — online access and freedom of choice notwithstanding.

In comparison, Dish Network Co-founder Charlie Ergen has said its Net TV service, expected later this year, will cost about $30 monthly, and will target sports enthusiasts. Dish has a deal with Disney, which owns ESPN, which is expected to be part of the new service.

The good news for consumers is that these new services are "focusing on the consumer experience in a way that television hasn't seen in the past," says BTIG research analyst Rich Greenfield.

This trend is only expected to continue. Industry heavyweight Nielsen said this week that it needs to create new ratings to capture the growing streaming-video audience. "We are witnessing a real-time evolution of the broadcast and cable industry," said Nielsen Executive Vice President Megan Clarken in a commentary on industry news site Mediapost.

Stay tuned.

"Cutting the Cord" is a regular column covering Net TV and ways to get it. If you have suggestions or questions, contact Mike Snider via e-mail. And follow him on Twitter: @MikeSnider.