Sony launched the first three episodes of it's new show "Powers" today on PSN. The first episode is available for anyone to watch on youtube (link below), while the remainder of the series is free for those with PS+.

I watched all three episodes today and it was pretty good, the first episode is a bit clunky...but the second, and third episodes are both better. So all in all worth watching, in my opinion. But I can't help but wonder why Sony has bothered to make it at all. There aren't any ads to bring in revenue, and I just don't see a show being enough to pull a significant number of people into PS+.

So what is the draw for Sony? The show is estimated to cost between $3 and $4 million an episode, which is a lot of money for something that at best will probably be seen as a nice perk, rather than a must have for PS+

Does anybody else have a better idea of why Sony decided to make this show?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gt2znyyXt3g

Vue.

The beginning of them dipping their toes into the pond that is subscription based television.

Proof of concept with the possibility of creating more shows that can only be accessed with a PSN+ (or perhaps PS Now) subsriction.

Personally I think making it available though PSNow and PSN+ should be the way to go. That way people don't have to be forced to buy PS hardware to watch a TV show, but they are still giving money to Sony through their subscriptions. Still, until Sony provides a whole lot more movie / TV content there is just no way non-gamers are going to be attracted to this. And TV/Movie content is not really going to draw people away from Nintendo/MS/PC to PS.

I'll give it a watch though.

Increasing value of Plus and expanding the Playstation brand name. Also Retro Girl is really hot. Hopefully she wears her classic outfit again ;)

Maybe...but Vue is only months away, and the beta has been out for a while now.

As with the other comments Sony is trying out the waters. Probably thinking of expanding their streaming service to other media types since currently the only competition in streaming content providers is small in number, there is a chance to make money.

I'd rather see a series based on the inFAMOUS universe...

That would be awesome! Speaking of Infamous, did you watch any of powers yet?

Powers exists because Sony is making a play at establishing PlayStation 4 as the defacto smartbox for games, movies, live tv, ppv, on demand, music, web browsing, productivity, etc.. By creating exclusive content for PSN, while also having Hulu, Netflix, HBO, Snagflims, and the lot all available, they will have everything from everyone else, plus their own exclusive content.

I think they started with Powers, because it is part of a currently popular genre, and is not a direct tie to video games. In the future I imagine we will see them utilize current and unused gaming IP's, while continuing with original series to draw gamers, kids, adults, and other demographics.

Increasing the value of PS+, for starters.

You know how there's games you'd otherwise have never played without PS+? If they're good, you'll probably go out and buy a sequel, instead of waiting for it to come to PS+ (which may never happen).

They're establishing a base, amongst PS+ owners (or people who are willing to pay per episode) who will then become devoted fans of the show and be willing to pay for it and merch outside of the TV episodes. At least, that's what I think they're thinking.