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  • Sony and Viacom Are About to Make History Together
Technology Articles > Entertainment > Televisions > Sony and Viacom Are About to Make History Together

According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, Sony and Viacom have reached an agreement. The agreement will see Viacom's popular channels available on a Sony paid Internet TV service. What does all of this mean for you? Basically, this agreement could mean an all-out war between cable TV companies and companies that want to provide TV through the Internet.

Neither company has spoken with press yet, but there's a lot that can be gathered from this WSJ report. One of those things being that Viacom's popular programming may soon be available via PlayStation and through Sony TVs. Here are some more details.

Shows and More

Some popular networks like Nickelodeon and ComedyCentral may soon be available through your Sony TV or PlayStation. The point of the new Sony and Viacom deal would be to provide consumers with some kind of better alternative to cable. Sony would be the first company to make such a deal, and the company is expected to bring the new cable alternative to consumers by the end of this year.

Even though Sony is the first company to, reportedly, have struck a deal of this kind, there are other companies seeking similar agreements. According to various sources, Apple, Google, and Intel are all looking to create something like what Sony has done. But, none of those companies have gotten as far as Sony has quite yet. Reports state that Sony's deal still has to be finalized, but it's a step in some kind of direction.

What This Might Mean to You

If you're itching to get rid of your cable company, you might really enjoy what the future holds. It certainly seems like the future will come with lots of Internet (and other) companies that want to offer consumers various channels a la carte. That means getting rid of bulky channel packages - you know, the ones that most of us are suckered into? In the future, you might be able to simply order up HBO and skip the movie channel package that you don't really want to buy.

For now, this news is exciting for consumers because it provides a bit of hope. However, Sony still has to finalized those details. In fact, the exact deal and details that Sony is able to come to an agreement with Viacom over is what will change the scope of cable as we know it. If Sony succeeds at coming up with a really amazing deal, it could mean a real challenge for current cable TV providers.

When and Where

More likely than not, Sony will debut the new TV option in the U.S. first. Then, the company may branch out elsewhere. As the WSJ report states, Sony is expected to come out with this new service by the end of the year. That may seem like a time that's really far away, but it's actually just a few months in the future.

It will be really interesting to see what the details of the Sony/Viacom deal are, that's for sure.