Summary
- Live TV on PS5 offers more than 100 live channels and an expanding on-demand catalog without requiring a paid subscription.
- The free lineup includes movies, television, anime, sports, and news, with shows such as The Walking Dead, Hell’s Kitchen, and Death Note.
- The ad-supported service is currently limited to the US and requires PlayStation and Sony Pictures CORE accounts, but no additional app or streaming device.
Your PS5 can now double as a free TV box. Sony has launched its new ad-supported Live TV on PS5, offering more than 100 live channels and a growing on-demand library without requiring any subscriptions.
According to TheWrap, the launch catalog spans across movies, television, anime, sports, news, weather, and creator-led programming. That includes recognizable shows such as The Walking Dead, Community, The Shield, Hell’s Kitchen, and Unsolved Mysteries.
Your PS5 can be your free cable box
But the subscription fee has been replaced by commercials
In the US, you can open the Media tab on your PS5, select Live TV, and sign in with your PlayStation account. You’ll also need a free Sony Pictures CORE account, but there’s no app to download and no separate subscription to start or remember to cancel.
The lineup is much broader than a collection of Sony reruns, too.
- Movies: MovieSphere by Lionsgate, FilmRise Free Movies, Sony One Horror Hits
- Anime: Naruto, Death Note, Sailor Moon
- Sports: Fox Sports, NASCAR, NBC Sports Now, UFC
- News & Weather: NBC News Now, Fox Weather
Like many other free digital services, “free” means commercials. This is free, ad-supported streaming television, or FAST, so it won’t necessarily let you select every episode of every advertised show whenever you want. Programming can also vary by local market and change over time.
Nevertheless, Sony has picked an excellent moment to make PS5 more useful outside gaming. With anticipation building for upcoming blockbusters like GTA 6, millions of new users are adopting the console. Sony’s addition of free Live TV gives players a reason to keep the PS5 running even after closing a game. Now they’ll have fewer reasons to turn off the console once they finish playing games they are currently looking forward to.
Your PS5 can now double as a free TV box.
On the other hand, streaming prices continue to climb, and subscription fatigue has already convinced some viewers to cancel Netflix, Disney+, and Prime after reconsidering what they actually watch. A free catalog won’t completely replace those services, but it could give PS5 owners another reason not to reactivate one between major releases.
You can already replace a costly streaming setup with an inexpensive streaming device and free apps. Live TV on PS5 removes even that additional purchase for console owners by building the channel guide and on-demand catalog directly into the PS5’s Media section.
Kudos to Sony, but they’re not the first in this race
Sony isn’t breaking new ground with the concept. The Roku Channel already provides hundreds of free live channels, local programming, and on-demand entertainment, while services such as Tubi, Pluto TV, and Plex have spent years building their own free catalogs.
What the PS5 + free TV does have is convenience. If the console is already sitting beneath your television, you won’t need another streaming stick or several additional apps. It might take a while, but discovering genuine gems among programs offered on free TV is entirely possible.
Live TV on PS5 is initially limited to the United States, although Sony says it’s considering a Canadian expansion and additional regions. Until then, American PS5 owners have received a surprisingly capable cable substitute hiding inside the console they already own.
