# Sling TV: traditional television channel internet delivery



## phrelin (Jan 18, 2007)

As everyone knows, Sling TV is owned by Dish Network. I started using Echostar large dish (C-band) equipment in 1988. To make a long story short, Echostar offered small dish service as Dish Network which it spun off as a separate business.

But the "handwriting was on the wall" so Dish unveiled the Sling TV LLC subsidiary of Dish Network on January 5, 2015, at the Consumer Electronics Show. Sling TV officially launched on February 9, 2015, after offering the service on an invitation basis in January. As of August 2016, the service has approximately 764,000 subscribers.

My goal is to keep Sling news up to date in this thread. Here's what Sling TV offers as of today:










It's obvious some channels are missing. Both CBS and its owned premium Showtime are missing. So are all of the Discovery Networks U.S. channels. There may be negotiation issues on those channels.


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## oldschoolecw (Jan 25, 2007)

phrelin said:


> As everyone knows, Sling TV is owned by Dish Network. I started using Echostar large dish (C-band) equipment in 1988. To make a long story short, Echostar offered small dish service as Dish Network which it spun off as a separate business.
> 
> But the "handwriting was on the wall" so Dish unveiled the Sling TV LLC subsidiary of Dish Network on January 5, 2015, at the Consumer Electronics Show. Sling TV officially launched on February 9, 2015, after offering the service on an invitation basis in January. As of August 2016, the service has approximately 764,000 subscribers.
> 
> ...


 I need the Discovery channel for Gold Rush. That's the only thing holding me back from getting it.


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## phrelin (Jan 18, 2007)

If you want to try out Sling TV without giving your credit card info, *they are offering this opportunity:*


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## trh (Nov 3, 2007)

phrelin said:


> If you want to try out Sling TV without giving your credit card info,.......


A little misleading. I tried to activate this via my Amazon Fire Stick, and it needed my Amazon password so it could charge my account for the next month's billing should I forget to cancel the service at the end of the 7 day free trial.

I haven't tried this on a Roku yet.


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## tylorert (Sep 7, 2016)

phrelin said:


> As everyone knows, Sling TV is owned by Dish Network. I started using Echostar large dish (C-band) equipment in 1988. To make a long story short, Echostar offered small dish service as Dish Network which it spun off as a separate business.


Sling TV is owned by Echo*


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## trh (Nov 3, 2007)

tylorert said:


> Sling TV is owned by Echo*


You sure about that?


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## tylorert (Sep 7, 2016)

trh said:


> You sure about that?


Yep


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## trh (Nov 3, 2007)

And here I thought Sling Media was a subsidiary of EchoStar and Sling TV was a subsidiary of Dish Network.


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## KyL416 (Nov 11, 2005)

tylorert said:


> Sling TV is owned by Echo*


It's not.

Sling TV LLC is a subsidiary of Dish
Slingmedia (the makers of the Slingbox) is a subsidiary of Echostar

Dish is licensing the Sling name from Echostar.


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## phrelin (Jan 18, 2007)

trh said:


> And here I thought Sling Media was a subsidiary of EchoStar and Sling TV was a subsidiary of Dish Network.





KyL416 said:


> It's not.
> 
> Sling TV LLC is a subsidiary of Dish
> Slingmedia (the makers of the Slingbox) are a subsidiary of Echostar


Correct. Echostar/Sling Media is hardware. Dish Network/Sling TV are content providers. This is confusing but Charlie Ergen is still the moving force behind both. And this thread is about Sling TV. (Though I do have an older Slingbox I still use.)


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## n3vino (Oct 2, 2011)

If there is a Sling affiliation with dish network, I wonder if their HD PQ will also be substandard.


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## scooper (Apr 22, 2002)

n3vino said:


> If there is a Sling affiliation with dish network, I wonder if their HD PQ will also be substandard.


When I tried out Sling TV - it wasn't bad. about the same as Dish network. PS Vue was about the same. Sling TV wasn't bad on PC either.

I don't know about Roku - all I have is an Amazon FireTV (not the stick) and the ChannelMaster CM7500 DVR. The FireTV was better than the DVR, mostly on network performance / pixelating.

Caveat - All I have for TV's are 32 inchers, and I think both are 720P class


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## sabrewulf (Sep 4, 2011)

I have been looking at cord cutting and I do like Sling it has most the channels I am looking for under the blue package. However it is missing the Discovery networks. If they ever get those I am going that route.


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## john262 (Oct 26, 2011)

n3vino said:


> If there is a Sling affiliation with dish network, I wonder if their HD PQ will also be substandard.


Their PQ is about standard for streaming. To me it's acceptable but not as good as OTA.


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## phrelin (Jan 18, 2007)

Somehow I missed this announcement in March, but FYI Sling TV expands access to its Cloud DVR, as streaming TV competition heats up and is explained on the Sling website:

Yes! Sling TV is currently offering a "First Look" of Cloud-based DVR exclusively to subscribers who use Sling TV-supported Amazon Fire TVs and Fire tablets. Eligible customers can add "Cloud DVR First Look" for just $5/mo with any Sling TV subscription and get access to 50 hours of storage to record their favorite shows, movies, and games. Click here to find out more about how Sling TV's Cloud DVR works.

Sling TV has already broken down barriers around where you can watch your favorite shows, movies, and games. Now, with our "Cloud DVR First Look," we're giving you control over when you watch.

Users can watch their recordings from any Sling TV-supported Amazon Fire TVs and Fire tablets, Roku, or Android TV and Android mobile device. This list of supported devices will continue to grow in the coming months.​
The weirdness is you have to sign up through your Amazon device even though you can then view it on your Roku.


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## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

Good. I'm curious to see dtv bows version. How long can you keep recordings though?


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