Sony to offer TV channels across Internet?
The electronics and entertainment giant has approached several big media companies about distributing their content over the Internet, sources tell the Wall Street Journal.
Sony appears to be joining a growing field of tech companies wanting to take a bite out of the cable TV business.
The electronics and entertainment giant has approached "several big media companies" about distributing their content over the Internet to the Sony PlayStation 3 and other TV-connected devices, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Sony has already pitched the idea to Comcast's NBCUniversal, Discovery Communications, and News Corp., people familiar with the matter told the Journal.
Sony declined to comment, the newspaper reported.
The report would appear to be a fulfillment of Sony CEO Howard Stringer's pronouncement this week that Sony had a "tremendous amount of research and development going into a different kind of TV set." Distinguishing its TVs from the field could help bolster the company's television operation, which continues to be a drain on earnings, thanks to Sony losing money on every TV it sells.
The report comes as other tech giants are reportedly looking at getting into the TV content delivery business.
Google is considering a plan to offer paid TV services to consumers across its high-speed Internet service in Kansas City, Mo., and Kansas City, Kan. And last month, speculation arose that Apple was planning to launch a television of its own after it was revealed in Steve Jobs' authorized biography that the company co-founder was working on plans to launch an Apple-branded set.