Disney, Fox ‘could join Sony’s Internet TV’

LOS ANGELES — Walt Disney and 21st Century Fox are in discussions to supply Sony with programming for its planned Internet-based TV service, people familiar with the conversations said.

Disney and Fox would join Viacom, which said on Wednesday it will provide 22 networks, the first time the media company has made its shows available for a Web-based service. The deal covers live and on-demand programming, Viacom and Sony said in a statement.

Sony’s service will debut with “major programmers”, according to Wednesday’s statement. The company would not specify when or identify potential partners.

No deal with Disney or Fox is imminent, said the people.

“Sony is clearly beefing up content offerings for its growth plans for its Entertainment Network division, recently merged with its gaming unit,” said Mr Amir Anvarzadeh, a manager of Japanese equity sales at BGC Partners in Singapore.

Television, telephone and technology companies are exploring cable-like packages streamed over the Internet to reach younger viewers who are not signing up for traditional cable and satellite TV, but progress has been slow.

Intel abandoned a planned Web-TV service this year. The Viacom deal took a more than a year to complete after a preliminary accord.

“It’ll benefit every party in the ecosystem we have all enjoyed,” Viacom chief executive officer Philippe Dauman said.

Mr Dauman praised the “elegant consumer interface” of Sony’s service and said the Tokyo-based company was a natural partner given the popularity of its gaming devices among the young viewers who watch Viacom’s cable channels.

Discovery Communications, Time Warner and Starz are also among the companies discussing offering their programmes through Sony, the New York Times reported earlier.

“The service will launch with numerous major network partners, but we aren’t providing specifics at this time including who we are speaking to,” said Mr Sean Yoneda, a spokesman for Sony in the US.

Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai has boosted investment in content production and TV networks as he pushes his “One Sony” vision to unite products, including mobile devices and TVs, with games, music and films as it competes against Samsung Electronics, the world’s biggest maker of phones and televisions.

“A good line-up is important for this service because users will choose a service with a lot of content,” said Mr Hideki Yasuda, a Tokyo-based analyst at Ace Research Institute.

“It’s also a way for Sony to differentiate itself from Samsung.”