Sony Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:SNE) Sings Agreement with Viacom (NASDAQ:VIAB) On Streaming Service

Sony Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:SNE) announced today that it signed a preliminary agreement to stream cable television programming from Viacom, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAB) in excess of the Internet to TVs, game consoles as well as Blu-ray players, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

The person declared, who requested not to be appointed for the reason that the matter remains confidential that according to the deal, Tokyo-based Sony would utilize the Web to deliver shows like ‘SpongeBob SquarePants’ as well as ‘Teen Wolf’ to homes with those products, avoiding traditional pay TV providers. The service as well would sell Viacom shows and movies on demand.

Adding up live feeds from further studios to Sony’s own content might facilitate drive demand for the firm’s consumer electronics by making online services to struggle with providers comprising Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX). CEO of Sony, Kazuo Hirai is escalating investment in content production and TV networks as he pushes his One Sony vision to unite products, comprising mobile devices and TVs, with games, music, and films.

An analyst at SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. in Tokyo, Koki Shiraishi stated that Sony desires to enable its hardware to access contents other than they also want to remain the platform open to others in order to gather more users. The only thing that matters for the content holder is if they can monetize their shows.

A spokesman for New York-based Viacom, Mark Jafar, the owner of networks comprising Nickelodeon, MTV and Comedy Central, refused to comment, as did Dan Race, a spokesman for Sony.

According to the person The parties still must execute a definitive contract. The terms will most likely mirror those Viacom has signed with traditional pay-TV providers, the person added.

After declaring a profit in smartphones and TV sets, Hirai has stated to rejuvenating a film unit that dropped to No. 6 at the U.S. box office recent year following being No. 1 previous year.