Product announcements in the competitively heated virtual MVPD market continue to accelerate. Sony announced 11 major market ABC affiliate deals for PlayStation Vue following FuboTV’s integration of a CBS Corp. deal in June.
For its part, Vue soundly leads the race among vMVPDs to lock up local Big Four broadcast network affiliates. It added ABC stations covering Atlanta, Charlotte, Cleveland, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Denver, Detroit, Orlando-Daytona-Melbourne, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto and Tampa-St. Pete.
Additionally, Vue added four more NBC affiliates covering Baltimore, Orlando-Daytona Beach-Melbourn and Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto.
RELATED: Sony PlayStation Vue adds 7 CBS affiliates
For its part, FuboTV has integrated subscribers to its Premier tier 14 CBS-owned and operated stations in big markets including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas-Ft. Worth, San Francisco, Boston and Detroit. The company said that eight CW network affiliates will be added later.
FuboTV’s CBS deal also includes access to CBS Sports Network.
With now more than a half-dozen vMVPD services offering relatively similar programming and viewing options, competition to grab market share remains intense.
The fastest growing service, AT&T’s DirecTV Now, announced a promotion today to try to sustain its momentum, offering new customers a free Apple TV device.
The announcements come as vMVPD users report general overall satisfaction with their services. According to a recent survey conducted by The Diffusion Group, 86% of vMVPD customers said their experience was either “good” or “very good.”