PlayStation 5 owners in the United States will be able to stream free, ad-supported TV (FAST) channels starting today. The console’s media tab will feature more than 100 live channels from Sony Pictures Television as well as on-demand options. There are channels for movies, TV shows, anime (of course, since Sony owns Crunchyroll), news, sports, documentaries and much more.
Movie channels include action, sci-fi and horror offerings such as MovieSphere by Lionsgate, 50 Cent Action and Sony One Horror Hits. You will be able to watch TV shows such as Community, The Walking Dead, Deal or No Deal USA, Fear Factor And Truckers on the ice road. Anime options include Naruto, Sailor Moon, Hunter x Hunter And Death threatand there are channels broadcasting games, e-sports, podcasts and comedy programs.
Sony said Live TV on PS5 will be updated with updated programming and new channels. It plans to expand the service to Canada and other regions.
As with other recent business decisions, like largely ceasing production of game discs, this makes sense on paper for Sony. Getting console owners to watch FAST Channels on a PS5 instead of Pluto, Roku, or Tubi keeps more of their attention on a PlayStation platform. It could also put additional money in Sony’s pocket at a time when the company is more focused on generating additional revenue from existing customers than selling PS5 units to newcomers.
The timing could, at the very least, have been better. The backlash against the depreciation of game discs is not going away anytime soon. Sony also recently told its European customers that they would lose access to the hundreds of films they had paid for on the PlayStation Store after a licensing deal expired.
Of course, PlayStation has other games in the works, and we’ll see some of them during this week’s State of Play doubleheader. But it feels more like the company is dragging the PS5 towards the Xbox One. Microsoft infamously marketed this as an all-in-one entertainment center, in what turned out to be an unfortunate strategy.
