Sony Corp reached a preliminary agreement with Viacom Inc. A person familiar with the matter said through the deal, Sony would be able to stream the programming of cable television over the internet to Blu-ray players, game consoles and televisions.
Under the contract, Sony would make use of the web to provide shows like 'SpongeBob SquarePants' and 'Teen Wolf' to households with the said products. This would allow users to bypass the conventional pay TV providers. The source added the service would also sell in demand movies and shows of Viacom.
"Sony wants to enable its hardware to access contents but they also want to keep the platform open to others in order to gather more users," SMBC Nikko Securities Inc.'s analyst in Tokyo, Koki Shiraishi, said. "The only thing that matters for the content holder is if they can monetize their shows."
In March 2013, Sony purchased 32% stake in India's Multi Screen Media Pvt Ltd. for USD271 million. The acquisition boosted the the Tokyo-based company's television network venture by around 94%.
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