As streaming services battle to gain subscribers, Sony’s PlayStation Vue has announced that it has signed 17 local Fox affiliates across the country to join its service. The minarets include Cleveland, Denver, Pittsburgh, Portland, OR, Seattle and St. Louis.
Here is the full list of Fox markets added to PlayStation Vue:
Baltimore — WBFF
Cleveland-Akron (Canton) — WJW
Columbus, Ohio -– WTTE
Denver — KDVR
Hartford & New Haven, Connecticut -– WTIC
Indianapolis — WXIN
Kansas City, Missouri — WDAF
Milwaukee, Wisconsin — WITI
Nashville, Tennessee — WZTV
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania — WPGH
Portland, Oregon — KPTV
Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto — KTXL
Salt Lake City — KSTU
San Antonio — KABB
San Diego — KSWB
Seattle-Tacoma — KCPQ
St. Louis — KTVI
The latest
The deals are important as they help attract subscribers and differentiate emerging streaming services from one another. PlayStation Vue has been aggressive in signing local affiliates. It has virtually has all of ABC’s, CBS’, Fox’s and NBC’s owned-and-operated stations, something that neither DirecTV Now, FuboTV, Hulu, Sling TV nor YouTube TV can match.
Just last week, DirecTV Now announced that it had signed several ABC, Fox and NBC affiliates, but none from CBS as the Tiffany Network still hasn’t signed an agreement with the AT&T-owned service.
In contrast, FuboTV announced it had signed CBS and Showtime, including several local CBS affiliates.
While streaming services have been able to sign deals with network affiliates, not all owners of local stations are open to have their signals streamed. Some have opted to only have their newscasts streamed live online with the various content available on-demand on their websites and apps.
However, three of the four major broadcast networks have been able to reach agreements with their affiliates to stream their content online so we should see more stations available.
Live streaming has become a major part of the viewing experience and viewers want to be able to watch whether it’s through their mobiles, tablets or set-top devices. The streaming services are aware of this and keep signing up local affiliates in hopes they can stand out from the pack.
