PlayStation Vue will probably replace cable and take over television

Three years ago, Sony introduced the PlayStation Vue, an innovative new take on television and entertainment consumption. Breaking free from outdated technology like cable lines and messy cords, PlayStation Vue is a television service that requires only an internet connection to enjoy. Through the use of internet streaming, Vue takes the on-demand elements of Netflix and Hulu and introduces live TV into the mix.

The result is a dynamic hybrid that will change the television game forever. Internet television is the future. The problem is we might have to wait a few years before it takes over.

The idea behind Vue is brilliant. With four comprehensive packages to choose from, you can pick and choose what you watch. Sports fans can buy the sports package and get every sports channel available and not have to pay for the channels they never watch. It’s efficient. People pay for what they want and nothing more.

Is this a viable business in the world of Netflix? If you hang around enough yuppies, you’ll hear of people who have ditched television completely and only pay for streaming services. While it’s a novel idea, a world of only Netflix subscriptions will never be the mainstream practice. Too many people also watch sports and news, not to mention any content not on your preferred streaming service.

Vue and Netflix occupy two separate segments of the market and can coexist peacefully for the foreseeable future.

Vue is pursuing the consumer who’s currently threatening the existence of traditional TV. As Vue director of business Amir Nag told The Wall Street Journal, this is “the PlayStation user who is today not watching TV and driving a large ratings decline” and who is “at high risk” for choosing the Netflix/Hulu-only route over cable TV.

Like print newspapers, the only thing keeping cable alive is the baby boomer generation. Everett Rogers and his theory of the “diffusion of innovation” categorizes all consumers into one of five segments. The life cycle of a new product or service (such as Vue) goes through an S-shaped growth curve, dictated by the preferences of these five groups and where they lie on the curve.

In the beginning (“embryonic”) stage, growth is slow. The two groups of consumers in this stage are the innovators (high risk tolerance, technologically savvy and love being the first to have the newest thing) and the early adopters (comfortable with technology and able to see future utility from new products).

Demand here is slow but starts to pick up and proliferate once the mass market becomes more interested in the product. Here, the early and late majority segments adopt the new product once they see its usefulness and when the benefits outweigh the costs.

A product lives and dies by what is known as the “competitive chasm” between the early embryonic stage and the mass market. Simply put, the needs of the innovators/early adopters and mass market are vastly different, and if a company does not have a product that can satisfy the majority, it fails.

Vue is already crossing into the growth stage as the mass market starts to adopt it. With about 670,000 subscribers as of December 2017, growth is starting to pick up as Vue moves out of the embryonic stage and into growth.

So is it only a matter of time before Vue takes over? My gut says yes. However, that time might be longer than we think. The final segment of consumer is the “laggard,” who is the last to adopt a new product. They refuse to change and adapt their way of life and rarely do so unless forced to.

Will this be the baby boomer generation? Will the boomers be willing to cut the cable cord for good? If so, then PlayStation Vue’s emergence as the dominant television service will be rapid. If not, then it might be a few more years. Regardless, Vue is appearing to be the superior option and will likely be the future of television.

Andrew Hall is a UF management senior. His column focuses on entertainment.