On October 29, 2019, Sony announced it’ll be shutting down its PlayStation Vue streaming service at the end of January 2020. Sony cited a “highly competitive Pay TV industry, with expensive content and network deals,” and had already raised prices over time (including a $5 monthly increase that summer). Since then, streaming prices and packaging have shifted markedly toward higher ad‑free prices and lower with‑ads entry points: Max raised ad‑free to $16.99/month in Jan 2024 (Variety), Peacock moved to $7.99 (Premium, with ads) and $13.99 (Premium Plus) (Variety), and Paramount+ set Essential at $7.99 and Paramount+ with Showtime at $12.99 (Variety). Disney maintained Disney+ with ads at $7.99, lifted Hulu (No Ads) to $18.99, and introduced a Disney+–Hulu–Max bundle in 2024 (The Walt Disney Company). Amazon made ads the default on Prime Video in the U.S. with a $2.99/month ad‑free upsell starting Jan 29, 2024 (The Verge). Netflix reports strong momentum for its ads business with 40M+ monthly active users on the ads plan and a significant share of sign‑ups choosing ads in supported markets (Netflix Investor Relations).
The Motley Fool reported at the time that PlayStation Vue was far behind competitors at roughly 800,000 subscribers. Today’s competitive context is much larger at the global SVOD level: Netflix has ~311 million paid memberships (Q3 2025; Netflix IR), Disney+ totals ~172–173 million globally including Hotstar with Hulu at ~51–52 million and ESPN+ ~26–27 million (all per Disney fiscal Q4 2025; Disney IR), Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max/Discovery+ sits near ~99 million global DTC subscribers (Q3 2025; WBD IR), Paramount+ is ~72 million (Q3 2025; Paramount Global IR), and Peacock has ~45 million paid subscribers (Q3 2025; Comcast Investors). Apple does not disclose Apple TV+ subscribers; reputable industry analysis places paying subscribers in the low‑40 millions as of mid‑2025 (estimate; Ampere Analysis). Among live‑TV streamers (vMVPDs), industry trackers estimate YouTube TV in the high‑single‑million range and Hulu + Live TV in the mid‑single‑millions, with Sling TV and Fubo in a smaller second tier by subs (Leichtman Research Group; see also Disney’s disclosures on Hulu + Live TV scale: Disney IR). For historical contrast, U.S. subscriber counts in early 2019 were far smaller—Netflix at an estimated 60 million and Hulu at 26 million—underscoring how the market has scaled and diversified since Vue’s era.
Consumers are experiencing subscription fatigue from higher prices, fragmentation, and the shift to ads—prompting more churn‑cycling and tougher choices. As a result, both piracy and password sharing remain pressure points: network‑level data show file‑sharing/BitTorrent traffic has rebounded as services fragment and prices rise (Sandvine 2024), and EU monitoring recorded a return to growth in online piracy (+3.3% YoY in 2022, with further upticks into 2023 in several countries; EUIPO). Sharing is still common, especially among younger users (Deloitte; Ofcom), but enforcement is changing outcomes: when Netflix implemented paid‑sharing policies, it generated its four largest days of U.S. user acquisition on record at launch and sustained elevated conversions of borrowers to paid accounts thereafter (Antenna). It’s unlikely PlayStation Vue will be the last service to exit or pivot. FuboTV remains a smaller, sports‑centric vMVPD with strong RSN coverage in many markets and 4K sports features, but it faces high rights costs and notable gaps such as the absence of Turner networks (TNT/TBS/truTV) that carry portions of the NBA, NHL, MLB postseason and March Madness (The Streamable). Competitive dynamics could shift again with the Disney‑Fox‑Warner Bros. Discovery sports JV branded “Venu Sports,” announced in 2024 (Business Wire), which Fubo has challenged via an antitrust lawsuit (Fubo IR).
PlayStation Vue launched in 2015 and, before its discontinuation, was Reviews.com’s “Best for Live Sports” in our review of TV streaming services. We especially favored Vue for its broad sports network mix. We’ll be updating our relevant reviews; in the meantime, the strongest all‑around live‑sports bundle for most households is YouTube TV (broad national coverage, unlimited DVR, and optional NFL Sunday Ticket; YouTube TV). For the lowest cost to access key national sports channels, we continue to recommend Sling TV (best paired with an antenna and select apps; Sling Sports). If in‑market RSNs for your local NBA/NHL/MLB teams are essential, consider Fubo (note the Regional Sports Fee; Fubo Support) or DirecTV Stream (Choice or higher; DIRECTV STREAM). Pricing, channel lineups, RSN availability, and fees change frequently—always verify your ZIP‑code lineup and final monthly total before switching.
