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Sling TV, owned by Dish Networks, is the second-largest live TV streaming service in the United States.
There are two types of video streaming services that operate over the internet. The first offers on-demand content – streaming services in this category include Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, and HBO Max. The second type of internet streaming service offers live TV. The market leader in this division is Hulu + Live TV and then comes Sling TV. Following on are YouTube TV, AT&T TV Now, and fuboTV. These are all TV services that appeal to cord-cutters because they offer the same channel lineups that cable TV services provide.
Sling TV overview
Sling TV is a TV streaming service that can replace the TV packages offered by cable companies. Typically, cable systems offer a basic cable channels package and then options for premium channels and add-on packages. Sling TV uses the same system. In fact, the channel selection in the two base packages, called Sling Blue and Sling Orange, are very similar to the basic cable TV channels.
Sling TV offers a complicated menu of basic plans, extra channel packages, add-on premium channels, and other service bundles. It can take quite a while to work through all of the options that this TV streaming service presents.
There is an overlap in the TV channel lineups of Sling Blue and Sling Orange. Those who want to get everything can opt for the Sling Orange + Blue bundle, which costs less than the price of Orange and Blue if subscribed to separately. Another option would be to take the Blue package and then pay to add on those channels that are in Orange but not in Blue.
Being a cord cutter doesn’t mean you have to go without all of the TV shows and movies that everyone else gets. Sling TV is a lot cheaper than cable TV services and it is also cheaper than most of the rival live TV streaming services. With Sling TV offering 50 TV channels, and Sling Orange containing 32 channels, it is likely that anyone would be able to find their favorite channels in one package or the other.
Many channels are available in both Sling Blue and Sling Orange. Overall, Sling Orange is a better package for children’s TV and sports channels while Sling Blue is a better plan for general entertainment.
Sling Orange TV channels
The Sling Orange plan includes 32 TV channels.
Sling Orange entertainment channels
- A&E
- AMC
- BBC America
- Food Network
- Freeform
- HGTV
- IFC
- Investigation Discovery
- Lifetime
- Travel Channel
Sling Orange news channels
- Bloomberg TV
- Cheddar Business
- Cheddar News
- CNN
Sling Orange sports channels
- ESPN
- ESPN2
- ESPN3
- MotorTrend
- Stadium
- TBS
- TNT
Sling Orange children’s TV channels
- Cartoon Network
- Disney Channel
Sling Orange add-on channels
- ACC Network
- ACC Network Extra
- BET
- Disney Junior
- EPIX Drive in
- ESPNU
- Hallmark
- Longhorn Network
- MLB Network
- MTV
- NBA TV
- NHL Network
- Pac-12 Network
- Paramount Network
- SEC Network
- Showtime
- Starz
- Tru TV
- VH1
- WE tv
Sling Blue TV channels
Sling Blue includes 50 TV channels.
Sling Blue entertainment channels
- A&E
- AMC
- BBC America
- Bravo
- Discovery Channel
- Comedy Central
- Food Network
- Fox (local channels in select markets)
- FX
- HGTV
- History Channel
- Investigation Discovery
- Lifetime
- NBC (local channels in select markets)
- Syfy
- TLC
- Travel Channel
- truTV
- USA Network
Sling Blue news channels
- Bloomberg TV
- Cheddar Business
- Cheddar News
- CNN
- Fox News
- HLN
- MSNBC
Sling Blue sports channels
- Regional Sports Networks (from NBC SN and Fox Sports 1)
- Fox Sports 1
- NBC Sports Network
- NFL Network
- TBS
- TNT
Sling Blue children’s TV channels
- Cartoon Network
- Nick Jr
Sling Blue add-on channels
- EPIX
- Fox Sports 2
- FXX
- Hallmark
- MLB Network
- MTV
- NBA TV
- NHL Network
- Pac-12 Network
- Showtime
- Starz
- VH1
- WE tv
Add-on packages with Sling TV
Sling TV offers a large number of add-on TV channel bundles. Each bundle is available for Sling, Orange, Sling Blue, and Sling Orange + Blue and has the same price in each version. However, the channels line up is different when added to each base plan.
The add-on TV channel packages are:
- Music Extra
- Comedy Extra
- Kids Extra
- Lifestyle Extra
- News Extra
- Sports Extra
- Best of Spanish TV
- Hollywood Extra
- Heartland Extra
- International Brazil
- International France
- International Germany
- International Greece
- International India
- International Italy
- International Poland
- International China
- World Sports TV package
- Cricket TV package
- Soccer TV package
Sling TV UX
Each Sling TV member gets a home screen and a TV guide. The home screen combines categories for live TV and also indexes the content of the member’s DVR storage space and it also has a search facility.
Simultaneous streams
An account with Sling Blue is allowed three simultaneous connections but the Sling Orange plan is only allowed one stream at a time. A Sling Orange + Blue account gets an allowance of four simultaneous streams.
Profiles
Sling TV doesn’t support user profiles so all uses accessing the same account have the same settings.
Video categories
The home screen includes video categories, such as a list of favorite shows, stored videos, and shows currently airing. It is possible to set up a list of favorite channels in the personalization settings, which are called My TV.
When the user hovers over the icon for a video, that icon gets a little larger than its neighbors and a headline picture appears for that video at the top of the home page.
Details screen
Clicking on a video icon gets to the details screen for that content in the catchup service. This shows an overview of the video and lists all of the episodes available for the show. Clicking on a video icon in the TV guide takes you straight to the stream for the selected TV show or movie.
Video downloads
As it is a live TV system, downloads aren’t really part of the Sling TV experience. However, users can access catchup TV for most of the channels in the Sling TV packages. The playback controls on the catchup videos are not so great because it isn’t possible to skip forward or rewind them. These playback controls are available with the Sling TV DVR service. Each account gets a free cloud DVR with 10 hours of DVR storage.
The Sling TV cloud DVR storage offer is not as good as the storage capacity offered by rival video streaming services. The amount of DVR storage can be extended to 50 hours for a monthly fee.
Sling TV quality
Sling TV’s videos are set to 1280 x 720 pixels, which means High Definition (HD). The video streams transmit at a rate of 30 frames per second. Sports channels, EPIX, and Showtime are transmitted at 60 FPS. Live TV carries standard stereo sound but some on-demand videos are fitted with Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound.
Sling TV platforms
All broadcasts from Sling TV occur over the internet, so all Sling TV customers have to have an active internet connection in order to receive the service.
Smart TVs
- Samsung smart TV
- LG Smart TV
- Vizio smart TV
Streaming devices
- Roku
- Apple TV
- Android TV box
- Amazon Fire TV Stick
- Amazon Fire TV Cube
Computers and mobile devices
- Web browser
- Google Chromecast
- AirTV
- Sling TV app for iOS (iPhones and iPads)
- Sling TV app for Android devices and Kindle tablets
Game consoles
- Xbox One
- PlayStation 4
Sling TV price
Both Sling Blue and Sling Orange cost $30 per month. Sling Orange + Blue costs $45 per month. Sling TV runs a range of offers periodically. The most common of these is a $10 discount for the first month of service. Sometimes the streaming service offers Starz, Showtime, and EPIX access for free for the first month instead of the discount or as well as it.
Sling TV doesn’t regularly offer a free trial. However, when there is a free trial available, it is for just three days. The new member needs to enter credit card details in order to start the trial and the free period rolls over automatically to a paid membership unless the new user cancels the account before the trial period expires.
Sling TV reviews from customers
The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) published an annual ACSI Telecommunications Report. With the latest installment covering 2018 to 2019. The report includes customer opinions on the major video streaming services operating in the United States. Each service is ranked with a satisfaction rating, which is a score out of one hundred.
The average score for all US video streaming services was 75 in 2018 and 76 in 2018. Despite being very good value for money and having a very flexible menu of TV channel options, Sling TV got a below-average score in both years. Sling TV got a customer satisfaction rating of 71 in 2018 and 74 in 2019.
