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Two Biggest Live TV Streaming Failures

Two Biggest Live TV Streaming Failures

These Two MVPD's Crashed and Burned. Who's Next?

March 23, 2021

Is the live TV streaming market over-saturated? That's a question that's been on many industry observers' minds, with many of us thinking that the answer is possible "yes". We've already seen several early entrants fall. This week, we explore the biggest failures in the biggest multichannel video program provider (MVPD) failures in the past few years (and who might be next).

Streamer's Spotlight: Biggest Live TV Streaming Busts (So Far)

The free market gives and the free market takes away. Not every service is guaranteed to survive, no matter how die-hard its users may be. Such was the case with a few failed live TV services that tried and failed, to last in this incredibly tight market.

PlayStation Vue Was Beloved, But Died

Ah, PS Vue. Those new to cord-cutting may have never heard of this service or may have heard just enough to think that PS Vue was just a terrible service. In truth, during its heyday, PlayStation Vue was one of the most-liked MVPD's on the market?

PlayStation Vue offered a sleek user interface and some features that are still incredibly hard to find, including 10 individual user profiles each with its own DVR storage space. The service also had some nifty features that didn't get much love, such as picture-in-picture.

That said, PlayStation Vue ultimately bit the dust for a few reasons that had far more to do with branding and pricing than the actual usefulness of the service. For starters, new cord-cutters consistently believed that PlayStation Vue was only for people who owned a PlayStation console. However, PS Vue was available on a multitude of devices like most of its competitors.

Then there was the price-to-channels ratio. The service was no more expensive than what's available right now, but it was too expensive for what its competitors were offering at the time. And Sony seemed to have a hard time committing to a price scheme, as it changed prices far too often.

So lies PlayStation Vue. Upon its death, Sony effectively gave up its position to YouTube TV, where all of its users were transferred after its demise.

AT&T WatchTV Couldn't See Growth

This slim, no-sports diddy was an AT&T creation that was made solely to compete against Philo. AT&T would likely never admit that, but we all knew. It had a few advantages over Philo as well: free with an AT&T Unlimited data plan; a few major news networks (which Philo lacks); the option to add HBO and other movie networks (which Philo lacked at the time).

Still, the service wasn't really a hit. Even at $15/month, it couldn't compete against the slightly higher-priced Philo on features and breadth of channels. Additionally, AT&T had far too many properties in this space, meaning it was cannibalizing itself. Something had to give eventually, and AT&T WatchTV was quick to get cut.

AT&T TV Now (Sort of)

Ok, one could make the argument that AT&T TV Now didn't really die, so much as...get merged into something else. But this is technically the third time AT&T has done something dramatic with its live TV streaming service in less than 4 years. First, it changed the original name of the service from DirecTV Now to AT&T TV Now. And now, it's effectively phased out AT&T TV Now and made it part of its wider cable TV offerings under the AT&T TV brand.

Still, AT&T no longer has a standalone live TV streaming service for cord-cutters. You can still get a cord-cutting option with AT&T TV, but for now, the DirecTV Now/AT&T TV Now is gone.

Who's Next on the Chopping Block?

It's never easy to predict exactly which service is going to get phased out or close its digital doors. Many don't share their subscriber numbers, much like AT&T and Sony were forced to do as publicaly traded companies. Others, like YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV, do share numbers are eagerly, since they're winning at the game.

But, we definitely have our eye on smaller services hitting that market that aren't making many waves, such as Vidgo. It has a unique selling point with its social TV, but there's no way for us to know whether it's prospering or bleeding. Only time will tell.