Xbox One Adds Dish’s Sling TV App With One Month Free
Dish Network’s Sling TV online TV service is barely a month old, but just added an Xbox One app on Tuesday. Microsoft made the announced the app’s availability along with a free month trial.
Sling TV starts at $20 per month for the core package that comes with ESPN, ESPN2, AMC, TNT, TBS, Food Network, HGTV, Travel Channel, IFC, El Rey, Adult Swim, Cartoon Network, ABC Family, Disney Channel, CNN and Galavision. A+E Network channels A&E, History, H2, and Lifetime will all be added by the end of March.
Additional channel “add-on packs” are also available for an additional $5 per month. These packs like “Sports Extra” and “Kids Extra” add channels that are not part of the core package. For example, the “Sports Extra” package comes with ESPN channels like the SEC Network, ESPN U, ESPNews, Buzzer Beater, and more. Meanwhile, the “Hollywood Extra” pack adds the Epix and Sundance TV movie channels.
While Sling TV also supports iOS, Android, and Roku devices, there is one important caveat to keep in mind. The service currently only supports one stream at a time per account.
“With Sling TV, you can watch live TV instantly without the cable company,” Sling TV CEO Roger Lynch said. “That means you get access to the NFL, NBA and X Games on ESPN and ESPN2, plus your favorite shows like The Walking Dead from AMC, Adult Swim, TNT, TBS, and others. You can also explore Video-On-Demand (VOD) entertainment, as well as content from Maker Studios like Polaris+, which is coming soon.”
Existing Xbox One owners will be able to try out Sling TV free for one month to decide whether or not they want to keep it. A new promotion was also launched at the Microsoft Store to offer three months of the service free with the purchase of an Xbox One.
.@Sling TV now available on Xbox One and Xbox members get a one month free trial #TakeBackTV http://t.co/jDZc34PnNv pic.twitter.com/Kns8ifx9lS
— Larry Hryb (@majornelson) March 17, 2015
Sling TV is one of many TV streaming services that are hitting the market. Sony is slowly rolling out its PlayStation Vue service across the United States this year. Meanwhile, Apple reportedly plans to launch an online TV service this fall with around 25 channels for $30 to $40 a month, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Paid cable and satellite TV subscriptions are slipping, but still the dominant means of watching television in the United States. Variety reports that roughly 1.4 million people either cancelled their subscriptions or never bothered subscribing. Wall Street analyst Craig Moffett says that the traditional pay-TV industry faces a wave of consumers pulling out of the market this year as new online services become available.
Have you tried the Sling TV app for the Xbox One app yet? What do you think of the service? Sound off in the comments below.
[Images via Xbox]
