At the beginning of 2016, my family cut out our cable package due to the fact that it was simply too much for what we were paying. This was not done because we could not afford it, but because we had a cable package of over 100 channels, and were only using one or two of the cable company’s channels. However, near the end of 2016, I came across Sling TV and I think it has changed our lives for the better.Â
Today, when shopping for a new cable or satellite package, it’s a similar experience to what you would find with searching for a new car or choosing a new phone carrier. You want to find the product that has the best quality and service, but at a reasonable price.
Sling TV is a service that I believe is going to be one of the biggest breakthroughs in the future of television. The service already has a good set of channels (based on what plan you’re on) at a great price. We have the Orange Plan, which is the $20 option. In this plan, you can get quality content from channels such as ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, TBS, CNN, and Freeform (just to name a few).
Sling TV does offer a Blue package that offers most of the channels from the Orange package but does not offer any of the ESPN related channels. To make matters better, the Blue package does offer sports channels such as FS1, FS2, FSN (depending on where you’re from), and NBC Sports Network.
The service does provide add-ons at varying prices but includes a Sports and/or Kids Extra ($5), or an HBO extra ($15). The Sports Extra gives you channels like NFL RedZone, NBA TV, NHL Network, and Pac 12 Network, and the Kids Extra provides channels such as TeenNick, NickToons, and Boomerang.
Quality wise, Sling TV’s streaming quality looks just as good if not better than what you would find with a cable or satellite subscription. Best of all, you’re paying a lot less!
One of the things that I love about the service is that it essentially just gives you what you want. It gives something for everyone in the family to watch. For kids, they do offer Disney Channel and Cartoon Network, and for the parents, you have your ESPN channels along with CNN. If you’re a big movie watcher, Freeform is always having movie marathons of some sort.
With all of that said, though, there are still some issues that the service has. First of all, sometimes when streaming content, the screen goes black and you have to leave the channel and click on it to start watching it again. Although this is a small problem, it could be crucial when streaming sporting events or movies.
Another issue is that Orange plan only allows for one stream to be going at once. This means that if someone is streaming a game on ESPN and a kid is wanting to stream the newest episode of Doctor Who on BBC America, only one stream can go on so one will get kicked off. With the Blue plan, you can have more than one stream going.
There is a workaround with this when it comes to watching sporting events. If someone is using the streaming device to watch Harry Potter on Freeform, but you want to watch a game on ESPN, simply sign-in with your Sling TV credentials and you can start streaming the game from that app. Â The streams on the WatchESPN are a little behind than what you would find streaming on Sling TV, but it’s the best substitute for now.
One thing that users should know when choosing whether or not to acquire a Sling TV subscription is to check your data cap on your home internet. If you’re someone who just does the casual web surfing and Netflix streaming you should be ok. However, if you’re streaming a lot all the time, consider getting an upgrade in how much you stream per month. I would recommend at least a 300-400GB data cap. This can be found out by contacting your internet provider.
All in all, Sling TV is getting a 3.5/4 rating from me. The quality that you get and a number of channels at the $20 price tag is the best money can buy right now. The interface of the app is really user-friendly that even my mother can figure out how to use it (and that says something!). If you’re looking to cut corners on your cable and satellite bill in 2017, Sling TV would be the best way to start that process.