Sony is coming back

What does their position as a media company matter? Are the broadcast companies going to say "It's Sony, so we're ok with making less money"?

That's it.

I'm buying a Wii U.

It's called having your foot in the industry and other things beside large stacks of cash to offer. You’d be surprised at deals that can happen. Besides cable is dyeing, and very quickly. It’s in the best interest to find other avenues to get these programs into people’s homes.

Sony foot is not in this industry. You do know that a good chunk of major cable companies now do OnDemand just like what Sony is trying to do.  You can actually use their services on the 360 now without having to have a cable box.  What Sony is offering is nothing different, instead they would be competing with these companies doing the same thing.

So what you are saying is that Sony, who barely made a profit last quater somehow has loads of cash more than the big cable companies and will be able to offer deals to media content providers better.  This is a real leap in faith in Sony abilities in a market they do not have a advantage.

Until more info about this service is made known, there doesn't appear to be any benefit to this service.  If Sony allows you to pick eactly the shows you want and leave the rest for a very cheap price, then I would consider that as a very good feature but something tells me this will not be the case as it would demean the value for Viacon other shows.

Sony is one of the largest production companies’ and owns more music than anyone. So if that's not a foot in the industry than I don't know what is.

I wouldn’t worry about Sony’s cash flow. You must have been the one of the few to say there’s no way sony can afford ps4 and all that other rubbish that was spouted just a few months ago. 

I'll tell you this; Sony will get further with this than MS will. 

Yes, Sony produce content, but that gives them no more foot in the door than MS.  Both companies distribute Music, movies and other digital content.  What Sony is doing different now is trying to become a provider of TV content from other content owners.  This is something Sony does not do and is in no more of an advantage than any other company.  Sony will have to make the same deals each and every cable company does and have to offer something sweeter than what these companies already are getting.  Sony will be going up against not just MS, but all the cable companies and also Apple and Google.

As for Sony cash flow, its basic economics.  You cannot outspend your competitor if you do not have the cash.  Sony compete in a lot of business with a lot of strong competitors.  Spreading your money around and making big risky contracts will hurt your business if not careful.  Money does not fall from heaven like mana, If Sony is spending heavy in one area something must suffer in another.  Yes, Sony is a billion dollar company but are you telling me they can go toe to toe with Apple, MS or Google.  I really do not think you are looking at this logically.  

You are right that Sony will get father with this then MS because MS isn't trying to compete in this space.  MS gave up their IPTV dreams when they sold that business to Ericsson.  Instead MS is making deals to provide customers with OnDemand from all of the major cable companies.  They already do this now with the 360.  MS is not looking to sell IPTV subs, they want to be the center of peoples homes that already have these subs and the Xbox tie it all together.  Its a totally different business and one that provides more flexibility and non threatening to established content providers.

This might be one of the reasons you do not see any of the cable companies OnDemand services on the PS3.

Both of you need to watch your quote trees!

Being a producer of movies, and music (content to be distributed) may put them at a disadvantage. Why would other companies want to partner with their compitition for distribution? Also dont forget that MS has been a producer of cable boxes and hardware/software for many years. They already have many partnerships with these kinds of content producers, and they dont compete with them by producing content. Traditional cable is on its way out, but in the US atleast any on demand service will be bought through cable even if you dont have a box (stuff like show time, and hbo go). On top of that the cable providers in the US are also the internet providers, they will keep a say in many things. If you look at what ms has done already, this is nothing compared to it. MS already has so many partners, and already does cablebox less cable with fios and time warner. I highly doubt sony will be able to make the partnerships MS has, and has had for many years. Look into it.