Good News If You Have A Sony TV And Were Hoping It Would Become Less Useful For No Reason

from the you-don’t-own-what-you-buy dept

If you own one of the Sony Bravia lines of televisions (like I do) and were hoping that the expensive television would suddenly become slightly less functional for no good reason, I have some good news for you.

Sony just announced that the company is making adjustments that will reduce the usefulness and efficiency of watching over-the-air (OTA) broadcasts with an antenna (something many still do in order to “cut the cord,” but still watch local sports broadcasts). According to the Sony announcement, the TV’s internal guide for watching live OTA simply won’t work as well anymore:

“The changes primarily target the program guide functionality for over-the-air antenna TV channels received via the ATSC tuner. After the cutoff date, program information may fail to display on certain channels, limiting the guide’s usefulness for planning viewing schedules. Users will often see listings only for channels they have recently watched, rather than a comprehensive overview of available broadcasts. Additionally, channel logos that previously appeared in the guide will disappear, and any thumbnail images accompanying program descriptions will no longer load or show.”

Many of the TVs being impacted are several thousand-dollar televisions, including the 2025 BRAVIA 8 II (XR80M2) and BRAVIA 5 (XR50), and the 2024 BRAVIA 9 (XR90), BRAVIA 8 (XR80), and BRAVIA 7 (XR70).

Sony didn’t specify why it’s making several-thousand-dollar televisions slightly less useful, but as always it’s about money. Many companies are keen to direct consumers to their (or their own) ad-based streaming alternatives to live OTA broadcasts, which are easier to monitor and monetize through surveillance. As Ars Technica posits Sony is also just likely cutting costs:

“Sony’s plan to remove some TV guide and menu features may be aimed at reducing costs and burden associated with features that typically depend on backend data services. Things like channel logos and enhanced metadata often require licensing agreements and the use of third-party electronic program guide data providers and metadata aggregators.”

Again, some of these sets (especially of the larger screen sizes) can run upwards of $3000 to $4000. You don’t typically expect products that expensive to suddenly become less useful. Or perhaps you do, if you’ve watched repeatedly how you no longer actually own the products you buy, which can be routinely downgraded (or bricked entirely) with a firmware update out of the blue.

Filed Under: bravia, broadcasts, channel guide, enshittification, hardware, smart tv, software, streaming, televisions, tv, tv guide, update

Companies: sony