Dish Introduces Sling TV, $20-a-Month Streaming TV With ESPN, CNN, TNT, and More
Dish Network Corporation has announced it will offer an online television service at $20 per month, reports Bloomberg Businessweek.
The new service, called Sling TV, will offer customers live streaming news, scripted shows and sports on TVs, computers and mobile devices. ESPN, TNT and CNN are among the television networks who have agreed to supply cable channels.
Live channels also include HGTV, TBS, Disney Channel and Cartoon Network. The package does not include popular cable news channel Fox News or a single broadcast network. The satellite company is looking into additional programming packages and possibly a free or inexpensive package funded through advertising, according to Chief Executive Officer Joseph Clayton.
USA Today reports Sling TV customers will be able to add more channels based on their favorite genre, such as a sports extra package, kids extra package or a news and information extra package, for an additional $5 month.
"It's not truly á la carte, but it is á la carte-like in that it lets you assemble a channel package that really reflects your interest instead of just buying more channels," said Roger Lynch, CEO of Sling TV LLC.
Sling TV isn't being marketed as a cable or satellite television replacement. Dish hopes the more affordable and flexible new service will attract users who have opted out of pay TV. The average cost for basic pay TV service plus popular cable channels is roughly $64 a month, according to a Federal Communications Commission report. Sling TV users can sign up for $20 a month and cancel anytime. There are no contracts or commitments.
According to Businessweek, pay-TV companies are experiencing little or no subscriber growth, while Internet-based services like Netflix have attracted more customers with its inexpensive, on-demand streaming service. Netflix reportedly has 37 million U.S. subscribers who pay $8.99 a month.
Sling TV is not available yet, but when it does become available, viewing will be limited to one screen at a time. The Colorado-based company says the service will work best on Roku, Google Nexus Player, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, PCs and Macs. Mobile devices operating on supported versions of Google Android and Apple iOS will also be able to use the service.
Viewers using Sling TV will be able to rewind, fast forward and pause live and on-demand programs. On-demand programs will be available for up to three days of viewing time.
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