An old rumor is making new rounds: The Los Angeles Times reported that Sony’s online video service could become a reality as soon as this summer and it would be provided through Sony’s PLAYSTATION Network. 

Last December The Wall Street Journal reported a similar rumor. “People familiar with the situation say Mr. Stringer is planning to use Sony's technology-packed PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable videogame machines, along with its Bravia high-definition televisions, to develop products and services to let users download television shows and movies, similar to the way they download music and videos using Apple's iTunes store and iPods,” wrote The Wall Street Journal at the time.

In fact, Sony is aiming for a video download service for a long time. In 2005 speaking at the Digital Hollywood conference Michael Arrieta, senior vice president of Sony Pictures said that Sony was planning an “iTunes” for movies. "We want to set business models, pricing models, distribution models like (Apple Computer CEO Steve) Jobs did for music, but for the film industry," said Arrieta quoted by CNET.com.
Also in an interview given in February last year to the gaming site 1UP.com, Phil Harrison, President, Worldwide Studios, Sony Computer Entertainment, acknowledged  that it was possible that soon enough PS3’s users would be able to download movies and TV shows from PlayStation Network.

“I think it's incredibly important that we establish what PlayStation 3 stands for. And I think PlayStation 3 needs to stand for gaming and digital entertainment in the living room pushing the envelope of high definition, pushing the envelope of broadband, and of course that includes more than just games. We don't have the announcements that you're probably looking for today, but it is digital data. We have a hard drive, we have a commerce engine, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out we will have that on the network very shortly” he said during the interview.

As The Los Angeles Times noted in the past years Sony’s attempts in the online content distribution were not so successful. In 2007, Sony announced it was pulling the plug of its Connect store, because the ATRAC format failed to become an alternative to MP3 and other formats. In addition, the company sold Movielink to Blockbuster.

But, in a blog post about PLAYSTATION Network, Peter Dille, Senior Vice President, Marketing & PLAYSTATION Network, confirmed that Sony was working on a video service.

“Many of you have been hearing rumblings about a video service that will allow you to download full-length TV shows and movies via PLAYSTATION Network for North America. While I don’t have any new announcements here for the PlayStation Nation, it’s already been confirmed that we’ll be offering a video service for PS3 in a way that separates the service from others you’ve seen or used. Ultimately the goal of the PLAYSTATION Network service will be to break through the overwhelming clutter of digital media to give you the TV, movies and gaming content you want. More on this very soon …,” he wrote.