Speaking to the industry magazine CableFax, PlayStation Vue’s chief Dwayne Benefield blamed Vue’s poor subscriber numbers on “a challenge for awareness” between 2015 and 2016 when PlayStation Vue and Sling TV were the only streaming services.
PlayStation Vue has struggled to get traction against DirecTV Now, Sling TV and its other market competitors.
PlayStation Vue only has somewhere between half a million and a million subscribers, according to CableFax.
Sony Still Doesn’t Get It
“Lack of awareness” alone does not explain how Sling TV amassed over twice as many customers as PlayStation Vue over the same period of time, or how DirecTV Now added a million subscribers in less than a year.
Cord-cutters looking for cable TV alternatives should consider PlayStation Vue’s record of poor decision-making.
At launch, PlayStation Vue:
- Did not support any other platforms for an entire year.
- Wasn’t available nationwide.
Self-inflicted Awareness Challenges
The continued use of the PlayStation Vue name could be the biggest obstacle standing in the way of PlayStation Vue’s future growth.
How many potential Vue customers simply assumed that Vue only works on the PlayStation? It’s impossible to tell, but the number is likely high.
Because PlayStation Vue actually offers a good balance between channel selection and price, its many self-inflicted struggles are a shame. PlayStation Vue offers a competitive mix of channels and no other streaming service offers support for five simultaneous streams. Looked at closely, Vue is actually a better deal than Sling TV.
The success of Sling TV and DirecTV Now demonstrates that PlayStation Vue’s executives are the ones that lack awareness– not the general public.
Chris Casper is a former tech industry product manager who escaped from California for New Mexico. Now he writes about science and tech while searching for the perfect green chile sauce.
