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Cord cutting has become increasingly popular in the last few years. More and more people are getting fed up with cable companies and relying solely on streaming services for entertainment. It’s more than possible to get your fix with Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and more, but live TV is still important to many people.
Dish is launching a new service called “Sling TV” that will allow anyone to stream a bundle of around 12 channels for $20 a month. You’ll get TNT, TBS, CNN, Food Network, HGTV, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, the Disney Channel, ESPN, and ESPN2. The inclusion of ESPN channels is a very big deal. Live sports has been one reason why some people can’t cut the cord. That won’t be a problem any more. Users will also be able to purchase add-on packages for an extra $5 per month.
Sling TV will work with many set-top box devices, including Amazon Fire TV, Fire TV Stick, and the Nexus Player. It will also work on Roku, Xbox One, LG Smart TVs, and PC.
[via The Verge]
Very smart move – bravo.
I like this a lot. Now if we could somehow build our own bundles, I would really be digging it! Seriously though, who watches more than 10 or so channels?
They are *sort of* doing that. They have the 12 channels for $20 base package, then there will be smaller add-on packages for $5 apiece. So far they’ve only announced a “kids” package and a “news” package (they didn’t say specifically which channels those will include), but they say more will be coming.
And thus Cable will die, with lots of loud wailing and “we can’t compete with the internet revolution!”.
Or it will make them actually allow subscribers to choose what they pay for instead of getting 200+ stations when they watch about 5 of them.
Cable? Listen to its customers? You so funny :P
You’re right. I was thinking clearly :)
I do not like it when the government steps in and starts telling free people how to run a legit business. As soon as these power hungry dividers get their hands on the net, say good bye to our wonderful internet that we all know and love. Plus, will start hearing that the internet is a human right and I don’t think I can take all the political BS. If Competition means anything anymore, the free market will correct any stupidity. Remember when Bank of America tried to start charging monthly for debit-cards
Unfortunately there’s more competition amongst banks. When BOA charged people for debit cards, they can close their accounts and go down the street to another national bank or local bak. In most areas of the country, people only have at most two choices for internet service. Here in Wichita, I can only choose between Cox or AT&T…ohh the choices.
True, but forgive me for not trusting the government to solve this problem. I’m afraid they will start regulating the net like they do TV and radio.. ..With cell phone company’s in the mix, it could be possible to truly one day give the cable company’s a run for their money. Hears for hopping.
A la carte streaming channels is bound to be more expensive than any current package offered by a cable company. Just look at the prices for streaming CBS and that does not include any live sports. A la carte TV will also bring about the death of unlimited home internet and be prepared for throttling.
Get AMC on board and I’m in. I just don’t want to wait 6 months to get my fix of The Walking Dead.
And there’s the rub. Everyone is going to have one or two channels that are “must haves” and that will up the price of the service. For most hardcore sports fans, ESPN isn’t sufficient. Most people follow their local team for basketball, baseball, and hockey. Those have contracts with local/regional channels or providers. That’s just professional sports. College adds another group of channels.
When you add in that most streaming services technically have concurrent device limits and you realize “cord cutting” isn’t really for families.
Yeah, you’re right on with that. When I got home yesterday I was switching between the Pelicans/Wizards on NBA TV and the Jazz/Hawks on the local network. That would all be gone with Sling TV, and it would only save me like $30/month. Looks like I’m sticking with Comcast for a while longer.
This is awesome! Totally needed!
So, to confirm, you don’t have to have Dish to use this, it can be used by anyone?
It’s over the internet on those devices listed.
Yes, it’s completely separate from Dish’s satellite TV service.
The cable companies will have the gnashing of teeth
I don’t see how cord cutting will change anything. My Internet comes thru the same cord as my cable TV does. If enough people cancel cable and just stream everything, the cable companies will just do the same thing the wireless providers did: switch everyone to tiered data plans. They’ll just make your Internet bill by itself the same cost as you used to pay for TV and Internet. Or am I missing something here?
You’re exactly right…and unless net neutrality gets put back into law, all these companies will just be throttled till they barely work… Not to mention large cable companies get a discount by buying channels in bulk from the content providers, if content providers offer them directly to the consumer, you will be charged a much higher price, in the end you’ll be paying the same price for less channels and tiered internet…
For more explanation http://www.forbes.com/sites/dorothypomerantz/2014/10/24/why-comcast-isnt-worried-about-hbo-and-cbs-ushering-in-an-a-la-carte-world/
Most people don’t think about that.
I sure hope they are working with slingbox on this otherwise there is going to be a lawsuit
Dish and Sling are now owned by the same parent company.
Those networks broadcast such a small percentage of live sports…don’t see this deal convincing any sports fan to cut the cable cord.
TNT and ESPN gives you a pretty good amount of NBA and NCAA Basketball, (Especially during March Madness) and during the NFL season you get Monday Night Football and Thursday Night Football up to around week 8. Tack that on with your local channels and you have a pretty decent smattering of live sports to watch.
This along with a plain old antenna and you’d be set.
too much $$$$ for 12 channels. PASS
If this is a $20 rate with a contract I wouldn’t even sign up for a trial. Service contracts favor the provider in almost every single case. They get to provide you whatever level of service they want and you either grin and bear it or pay a big ETF just to start a contract with someone else (and pay them introductory fees).
Edit: Just read on the official site there’s “no commitment” so yeah. I’ll probably be signing up.
Wish it had fox sports 1 :(
So, we’re going to wind up paying as much, or more than we do now, for fewer channels. That’s what this will lead to anyway.
Really, this isn’t cord cutting at all. It’s just the first step in how video content will be delivered in the future. Cable/Satellite will deliver the content through their own app instead of through a set top box (maybe). They already have apps that allow limited content streaming to devices. This is just separating it out instead of including it with the main subscription. They will still have the advantage of unified billing and a unified guide which most people will prefer to switching between Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime, CBS, NBCUniversal, HBOGo, etc.
One thing the last decade has shown is that you can’t predict what network the latest “must watch” show will be on. With a cable subscription, chances are you have access to the show. With cord cutting, you might have to make the decision to drop one to get another.
Add in that in many places, the cable company is the only wired broadband provider so you still have to pay them.