Sony is adding free TV channels to PS5

Ad-supported streaming channels are hitting Sony’s console in the US today.

PlayStation 5 owners in the US will be able to stream free, ad-supported TV (FAST) channels starting today. The console’s media tab will offer more than 100 live channels from Sony Pictures Television along with on-demand options. There are channels for movies, TV shows, anime (of course, given Sony owns Crunchyroll), news, sports, documentaries and more.

The movie channels include action, sci-fi and horror offerings from the likes of MovieSphere by Lionsgate, 50 Cent Action and Sony One Horror Hits. You’ll be able to watch TV shows such as Community, The Walking Dead, Deal or No Deal USA, Fear Factor and Ice Road Truckers. The anime options include Naruto, Sailor Moon, Hunter x Hunter and Death Note, and there are channels showing gaming, esports, podcasts and comedy programming.

Sony said Live TV on PS5 will be updated with refreshed programming and new channels. It plans to bring the service to Canada and other regions.

As with other recent business decisions like largely ending production of game discs, this makes sense on paper for Sony. Nudging console owners to watch FAST channels on a PS5 instead of the likes of Pluto, Roku or Tubi keeps more of their attention on a PlayStation platform. It could put extra cash in Sony’s pocket too at a time when the company is focused more on generating extra revenue from existing customers than selling PS5 units to newcomers.

The timing of this, at the very least, could have been better. The backlash against the depreciation of game discs is not going away anytime soon. Sony also recently told customers in Europe that they’d lose access to hundreds of movies they paid for on the PlayStation Store after a licensing deal expired.

Sure, PlayStation does have more games in the pipeline, and we’ll see some of those during this week’s State of Play doubleheader. But this feels more like the company dragging the PS5 in the direction of the Xbox One. Microsoft infamously pitched that as an all-in-one entertainment hub, in what turned out to be an ill-fated strategy.