Sony Europe and News Corp-owned Sky have announced the formation of a Joint Venture company which will deliver video-on-demand content to PlayStation Portable (PSP) owners in the UK and Ireland.

Focusing exclusively on delivering video content to the PSP, the Joint Venture will initially provide a wealth of video and film content to the more than 2.3 million PSP owners in the UK and Ireland. The two companies are already in discussions with entertainment content providers across Europe to facilitate future introduction of the service to European PSP owners.

The new venture follows a recently announced partnership between BT and Sony which will see the two companies bring voice calls, video conferencing, and IM functionality to PSP users across Europe.

It’s interesting to see the launch of a new video-on-demand service that is designed specifically for the PSP, as, in terms of devices that are suited to mobile video, the PSP had been ahead of its time with its gorgeous 4.3-inch wide screen. Having said that, I think Sony may have missed a real opportunity with its newly refreshed PSP, which although now features a video-output so that it can be hooked up to a television, doesn’t have a built-in hard drive, making it far less suitable for video than many of its competitors.

I’m also curious as to why Sony has chosen, once again, to experiment first in the UK. It’s not like the streets of London are paved with PSP waving commuters, although it’s much more difficult to tell without those give-away white ear buds.