Sony Raises PlayStation Vue Streaming Prices $5 Monthly For All Users
The adage "the more things change, the more they stay the same" seems very apt for the cord cutting streaming TV market. Many TV fans left behind cable and satellite services because the prices were always increasing and the service never got better. The rub is that now that cord cutters seem to have reached a sort of critical mass and streaming services are plentiful, streaming firms are starting to raise prices just like cable companies.
AT&T DirecTV Now raised its prices earlier this month by $5 per month. YouTube TV and Sling TV also recently raised prices. Now PlayStation Vue is following right along with the masses. All Vue plans are seeing $5 monthly price increases across the board. With the new increase in place Access costs $44.99, Core $49.99, Elite $59.99, and Ultra $79.99 monthly. Those look a lot like cable prices to many and this increase marks the second one this year for Vue.
Why did prices go up? All PlayStation Vue head Dwayne Benefield said was to keep pace with rising costs. Benefield wrote in a blog post, "[Vue] must increase the price of our multi-channel plans to keep pace with rising business costs and enable us to continue offering a better way to watch the best in live sports, entertainment, and news." It would be nice if at least one of these firms stepped up and said exactly what these rising costs are since they have all blamed the same vague reason for increasing prices.
The question is when do cost-conscious users move back to cable. The problem with streaming for many is that if you live in an area where ISPs enforce low bandwidth limits and you watch lots of streaming programming you will most certainly blow through your data allotment and pay more for
