Sony takes its live TV service PlayStation Vue across the US for less than $30

Sony has announced the launch of its cloud-based TV service PlayStation Vue across the nation to cover the entire US market, starting with a $29.99 (£21) monthly channel subscription plan. With this, Sony has roped in an additional 203 TV designated market areas (DMAs), to its network. It will embrace live local broadcast stations across all networks.

"Since launching a year ago, our priority with PlayStation Vue has been to secure the best TV content...PlayStation Vue has been an ambitious project from the start, and national expansion demonstrates our ability to innovate in an industry that's overdue for a reinvented experience," Eric Lempel, senior vice president of marketing and head of PlayStation Network Americas at Sony Network Entertainment International (SNEI) said in a company statement.

PlayStation Vue live TV service will include popular channels, such as AMC, Disney, ESPN and on-demand content from ABC, Fox and NBC. The network will add CBS live and on-demand programming to select regions at a "later date". It will also add live local broadcast stations across all networks to each of the new regions.

With the launch, Sony is offering three multi-channel plans namely Access Slim, Core Slim and Elite Slim starting at 55+ channel support for $29.99 per month, going up to 100+ channel support for $44.99 per month. New subscribers will get a seven-day free trial service for the plans. To access the service, users need to have an internet connection and a PlayStation Vue TV-connected device.

Other features for Playstation Vue subscribers include cloud DVR service, where they can record live shows to watch later, simultaneous streaming of different content on different devices using same subscriber account and the "catch up" feature that helps to discover popular programmes from the last three days.

SNEI first launched PlayStation Vue in March 2014 in major cities in the US like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, San Francisco and Miami. According to Sony, it has over 65 million active users on the PlayStation Network.