[Ben-Nice]

http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?op...=5718&Itemid=2

Sony’s decision to release an 80GB hard drive equipped PlayStation 3 model in Korea next month may have been informed by its plans to offer video on demand (VOD) services throughout the region via PS3s.

According to today’s Korea Times, Sony has announced its intentions to offer VOD services via PlayStation 3 consoles if negotiations with a number of Korean telecoms companies proceed as expected.

“We are contacting some Korean firms in order to incorporate VOD applications into PlayStation 3 service line-up,'' Sony spokeswoman Park Seo-yun said.

The report states that at least two domestic landline telecom carriers, Hanaro Telecom and KT, appear to be involved in the negotiations.

A Hanaro spokesman said, “We are negotiating with Sony and the atmosphere is pretty good. We hope we will be able to reach an agreement in June.'

“Should we strike a deal with Sony, PlayStation 3 users can watch all the HanaTV programs after downloading software, without having to buy a dedicated set-top box,'' he added.

Seoul-based Hanaro has been running VOD services since July 2006 under its HanaTV banner and has amassed in excess of 430,000 users to date. It supplies various media content via broadband lines for a fee in the region of 10,000 won ($10.75) a month. The Hanaro spokesman forecast that PlayStation 3 users would be able to access HanaTV content for the same price as regular subscribers if the deal goes through.

The Korean move represents the first step in Sony’s plans to roll out the VOD initiative on a larger scale in the near future. SCEE president David Reeves recently confirmed that VOD services would be available for PS3 and PSP users via the PlayStation Network by the end of the year. He said that consumers would be able to access full-length movies, music and TV programmes, although he gave no indication of launch details or pricing structure.

"I can't give you a time but it is not in the distant future, it will be within this calendar year," he said at a recent PSN event in London.

"It will not be in all of our PAL territories but it will be in the major territories," he added.

Microsoft currently offers North American Xbox 360 owners access to VOD services via Xbox Live. The service allows users to download movies, TV shows and other media content on a pay-per-item basis. It was the first gaming console to offer standard and high-definition TV media content via digital distribution.

[archangelmorph]

This is quite interesting and if true could be a very lucrative prospect for both Sony and for the media firms..

Personally I think Sony could really help themselves if they can offer on-demand IPTV solutions (especially in the US where user bandwidth is less of a problem than it is here in europe) that is subscription-based (as opposed to a pay-per-item model)..

Imagine setting up a subscription to pay $x per month to receive all your favourite cable channels through your PS3.. You could use the HDD for DVR functionality (with a firmware update of course), AND Sony could REALLY help themselves by allowing the subscription model offset the unit costs, making it possible to provide subscribers with the PS3 free of charge, or at least a much smaller fixed sum (would have to be fixed-term contract based of probably a 1yr minimum..) I think that could really help Sony blast PS3 mass market penetration into the stratosphere since the barrier to entry for gamers could be effectively reduced (operating as a kind of finance model but with the added benefit of cable TV) whereas the cable TV users could benefit from paying the little bit extra and getting video game and Blu-ray playback functionality to replace the old set-top-box (possibly reaching out to a new market of consumers)..

If mobile phone companies can provide user subscriptions models whereby they can effectively "give you" a £200-£300 phone in exchange for a 12 month, £17/month contract with all the bells and whistles thrown in to sweeten the deal (free texts and minutes) then I'm sure something similar *could* be possible with this kind of service (with a little bit more thought and planning than my examples have given of course..)

I guess we'll have to wait and see what Sony ACTUALLY have planned for this though (and how far they are willing to push it..)

[dobwal]

Originally Posted by archangelmorph

This is quite interesting and if true could be a very lucrative prospect for both Sony and for the media firms..

Personally I think Sony could really help themselves if they can offer on-demand IPTV solutions (especially in the US where user bandwidth is less of a problem than it is here in europe) that is subscription-based (as opposed to a pay-per-item model)..

Imagine setting up a subscription to pay $x per month to receive all your favourite cable channels through your PS3.. You could use the HDD for DVR functionality (with a firmware update of course), AND Sony could REALLY help themselves by allowing the subscription model offset the unit costs, making it possible to provide subscribers with the PS3 free of charge, or at least a much smaller fixed sum (would have to be fixed-term contract based of probably a 1yr minimum..) I think that could really help Sony blast PS3 mass market penetration into the stratosphere since the barrier to entry for gamers could be effectively reduced (operating as a kind of finance model but with the added benefit of cable TV) whereas the cable TV users could benefit from paying the little bit extra and getting video game and Blu-ray playback functionality to replace the old set-top-box (possibly reaching out to a new market of consumers)..

If mobile phone companies can provide user subscriptions models whereby they can effectively "give you" a £200-£300 phone in exchange for a 12 month, £17/month contract with all the bells and whistles thrown in to sweeten the deal (free texts and minutes) then I'm sure something similar *could* be possible with this kind of service (with a little bit more thought and planning than my examples have given of course..)

I guess we'll have to wait and see what Sony ACTUALLY have planned for this though (and how far they are willing to push it..)

That might be possible if Sony sells PS3s at a discount price to cable providers (or convince them to buy at retail price or even better at a premium) who then turn around and lease the system to its customers because there is no way that cable providers are going to let Sony get a cut of those subscriptions profits.

[one]

Originally Posted by archangelmorph

Personally I think Sony could really help themselves if they can offer on-demand IPTV solutions (especially in the US where user bandwidth is less of a problem than it is here in europe) that is subscription-based (as opposed to a pay-per-item model)..

IMHO an advertisement-based model can work too. In Japan Gyao does a free TV-like full-screen streaming service viewable by IE. The DRM is handled by Windows Media to prevent commercial skipping and recording. It offers a STB for PC-less watching too.

[Rangers]

Imagine setting up a subscription to pay $x per month to receive all your favourite cable channels through your PS3.. You could use the HDD for DVR functionality (with a firmware update of course), AND Sony could REALLY help themselves by allowing the subscription model offset the unit costs, making it possible to provide subscribers with the PS3 free of charge, or at least a much smaller fixed sum (would have to be fixed-term contract based of probably a 1yr minimum..) I think that could really help Sony blast PS3 mass market penetration into the stratosphere since the barrier to entry for gamers could be effectively reduced (operating as a kind of finance model but with the added benefit of cable TV) whereas the cable TV users could benefit from paying the little bit extra and getting video game and Blu-ray playback functionality to replace the old set-top-box (possibly reaching out to a new market of consumers)..

This is the same thing Xbox is one step ahead of them on. However IPTV is not available in most places. I dont think a lot of people understand that.

Pretty much you need fiber (or high bandwidth variation) to do IPTV. It's not something that just works with any old broadband connection. This type of thing is rolling out, but slowly.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verizon_FiOS_availability

[patsu]

Yes, I don't think IPTV is a huge deal too. It has apparently done well in a few places but adoption takes time.

The larger goal of digital distribution is interesting nonetheless.
I am more keen in low-cost download model or even P2P distribution if proven to work (quality-of-service speaking).

Sony has some existing investments/partnerships for VoD services (e.g., PSP's Portable TV). But they really need to simplify the package. Hopefully they can rope this under the Home platform. Didn't they already mention some sort of online media distribution by Fall 2007 ?

[ninzel]

Well MS hasn't been able to get any TV shows up and running in Canada so I doubt Sony will do any better. At least Sony can offer thier owns movies unless they've signed deals to offer exclusive distribution rights.