Tag: sling
Sling TV adds picture-in-picture in time for March Madness
Sling TV is preparing for March Madness with several new features that make it easier to keep tabs on the tournament. It’s adding picture-in-picture viewing on desktop browsers, a new iOS widget and enhanced sports scores.
Picture-in-picture lets you watch NCAA Tournament games in the corner of your screen without minimizing whatever you’re supposed to be focused on at work. Sling calls the feature “Side View,” and you can activate it by clicking a button labeled, “Browse your computer while watching video” in the top-right corner of the Sling player in desktop browsers. You can then move the resulting pop-out window around the screen, and it will remain on top of any other active apps or web pages.
Sling also added an iOS widget displaying a custom channel list. For example, you can create a widget showing only the channels broadcasting March Madness (ESPN for the women’s tournament; TBS, TNT and truTV for men’s), providing a home screen shortcut to the action. It’s available in two-row and four-row sizes, and you can create widget stacks with different channel collections for each.
Finally, Sling has updated its in-app guide. During the tournament, the Sling TV app will display a dedicated March Madness row with live scores and game times, letting you quickly glance for nail-biters you don’t want to miss. (However, Sling adds the caveat that the feature “may not be available on all devices.”)
Watching games on Sling requires a Sling Orange (including both men’s and women’s tournaments) or Sling Blue (men’s only) subscription. Although you may see sign-up perks for first-time customers, the standard cost is $40 per month for each package after a price hike last year.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sling-tv-adds-picture-in-picture-in-time-for-march-madness-193349012.html?src=rss
Stream live sports without cable with Sling — now 50% off
Sling TV now costs $40 a month, the fourth price hike in five years
If you’re paying Dish to stream live TV channels over the internet, prepare for a higher bill yet again: the company’s Sling TV streaming service is raising prices by $5 a month for the fourth time in five years. Sling Orange and Sling Blue pay TV packages will now cost $40 a month each — up from $35 previously — and you’ll pay $55 for the package with both Orange and Blue.
Existing subscribers should see the price increases on the first bill they get after December 3rd; new customers will have to pay the higher rate starting today.
In an official blog post, Sling TV president Gary Schanman blamed the rising cost of programming for the latest price hike, without offering further explanation. We’d probably put money on Disney having…
Best streaming services: We compare Disney+, Sling TV, HBO Max, Paramount+, and more
For anyone out there who might be thinking that their cable provider isn’t that bad, let’s play a little game to put things into perspective. Would you rather date someone who’s clingy, makes you spend a ton of money on them, and bosses you around? Or someone who’s super chill, lets you do your own thing, and always makes sure you’re happy?
We’re guessing you’d probably opt for the latter. (We know we sure would.)
Well, get this: The first relationship is the one you’re stuck in with your cable company right. this. moment. And the second relationship? That’s a cool collection of carefully curated streaming services, babe.
If you haven’t yet picked up what we’re putting down, we’re talking about cord-cutting — a favorite term of the past few years that basically means breaking up with your cable company and only paying for the content you want without messing around with a cable box or satellite. After all, life is just too short to be tied down to an overpriced contract that doesn’t even include all the content you actually want to watch.
The case for dumping your cable provider
If our dating analogy didn’t convince you that it’s time to break up with your cable provider, allow us to go a little more in-depth about why we can definitively say that moving to literally any streaming service from cable is one of the best things you can do for yourself (Unless, of course, you have really bad internet service in your area, which may be the one and only case to be made for sticking with cable.)
The first thing that would probably deter you from cutting the cord right now is live events. You might think that you’ll be missing out on a lot, like award shows, news events (like debates), sports, and more. But today, that’s just not true at all. In fact, pretty much all of the big live events can be streamed and you can root on your favorite teams from anywhere — you just need to know where to look. (Or, rather, let us tell you where to look in our roundup below.)
Another area of contention is that of choice. While many cable packages offer the mere illusion of choice with their advertised 100-plus channels and whatnot, you’ll find that these choices aren’t really ones you’d ever want to make. With cable, movie and TV choices are random, and you basically have to schedule your TV consumption time around when they’re being shown, lest you catch just the very end of that movie you’ve been meaning to check out. And that’s assuming you can even find something you’re in the mood to watch after scanning the vast list of “meh” content.
And when it comes to network television, the bar is pretty much in Hell at this point anyway; all the good stuff is on streaming services. In fact, in some cases, like that of CBS’ Evil, the literally hellish content (in the best way) was apparently too good for network TV. And so, starting with its second season, the show was turned into a streaming-only exclusive to drum up subscribers for the then-freshly-rebranded Paramount+ streaming service.
Plus, you can’t really binge-watch stuff on cable like you can on streaming platforms, where an entire season is often released in one fell swoop. However, some streaming services have begun to employ more traditional weekly episode drops, just in case you find yourself missing those watercooler conversations about what happened on your favorite program that week. It should also not be overlooked that streaming services — even the ones that aren’t ad-free — subject us to fewer commercials. Because, yes, our time is valuable, thankyouverymuch.
Finally — perhaps the most important aspect of all — the price. The bottom line is that the price-to-value ratio for sticking with cable is abysmal. It’s way more expensive than any given streaming service, and can potentially reach into $100-plus-per-month territory faster than you can find something to watch.
Here’s some food for thought: You can subscribe to Netflix, HBO Max, Disney+, and Hulu at the same time and still pay less per month than most cable companies will charge you. Cable companies also tend to sneak in hidden fees that aren’t included in the initial advertised price, including broadcast fees, DVR fees, and remote fees. (Yes, you have to pay monthly to use the remote. Insane.) You’ll almost always pay more than the advertised price, and in many cases, that price increases after your first contract expires. Apparently, cable appreciates in value over time — who knew!
What to consider when choosing a streaming service
We’re sure you already have Netflix for binge-watching movies and some TV shows, and it’s an amazing service for that purpose, but that’s obviously not a complete replacement for cable and live television. The reality is that you might have to get more than one service to cover all of your needs. Then again, having every single streaming service isn’t doable for everyone. After cutting the cord, there’s no sense in loading yourself up with streaming subscriptions that total up to more than your cable bill ever was. So, you’ll want to be very deliberate about which ones you end up subscribing to.
The streaming service market has grown exponentially over the past few years with almost too many plans and channel options to pick from, and you’re probably panicking and wondering which streaming service is right for you. As per usual, the answer to that is entirely dependent on what you’re looking for in your streaming service, what your TV-watching habits are, and your content preferences.
Here’s what you’ll want to take into account when browsing the vast buffet of streaming services you can choose from today:
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Your watching habits and tastes: It’s a simple question. What do you like to watch, and how often? If you’re into prestige television and film and nothing else, you’ll want to look to services like Netflix and HBO Max. More into sports and live events? Check out live TV streaming services like Sling or YouTube TV to stay in the loop. Our best advice is to incorporate a mix of the two so you get the best of both worlds, but that might not be sustainable for everyone.
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Your budget: How much are you able and willing to spend on entertainment? Once you arrive at your number, it’s actually pretty easy to figure out which service (or services) you’ll want to pick up. Fortunately, streaming services are way more upfront about pricing than cable companies have ever been, so you won’t have to deal with hidden fees or anything like that.
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Device compatibility: Not every streaming service works on every device or smart TV immediately after its launch. For example, when HBO Max first dropped, there was a period where the streaming app wasn’t available for Fire TV and Roku streaming devices (and the workarounds ranged from frustrating to downright impossible). Eventually, it all got sorted out, but you’ll still want to heed the warning and make sure any streaming app you might want (especially the smaller, niche ones) is compatible with your streaming device before you pony up the cash.
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Screen and profile limits: How many people are going to be using your streaming service or services? Just yourself? A whole family? Some platforms have a limit on how many screens or profiles can be connected to one account at the same time, so check that before you go giving everyone your login info.
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Cloud DVR options: Not all live TV streaming platforms have cloud DVR, but it’s worth checking because having the ability to record and store live events and programming to watch later is a total game-changer in the cord-cutting landscape.
What is live TV streaming anyway?
We’ve dropped the phrase on you a couple times now, but we want to make sure that you’re clued in to what it is exactly because it’s actually quite different from the most popular streaming sites that first come to mind.
While a streaming service like Netflix or HBO Max allows you access to lots of great on-demand content, none of it is airing live. Like, you can’t just flick open one of these streaming apps and start watching TV like you can with your traditional cable setup. (And you certainly can’t watch any live sports.) Instead, you have to consciously pick something to watch, find it in a list, and then hit “play.”
Live TV streaming services, on the other hand, work a lot more like traditional cable — namely YouTube TV, Sling TV, Hulu + Live TV, and a few others. The available channel lineup will vary a little from one to the next, but they all allow you to watch live content at the very same moment as anyone else watching live TV.
For example, let’s say your neighbor with a regular ol’ cable setup wants to watch the latest episode of Grey’s Anatomy as it airs. They’d turn on the TV when the show is ready to start, turn the channel to ABC, and watch it in real-time, right? Well, you can do the exact same thing with a live TV streaming service — as long as it offers ABC, of course. (And most, if not all, will include your local channels.) The only difference is that you’ll open up your live TV streaming app of choice and select the channel from there, and instead of pointing your remote to an overpriced cable box, you’ll point it toward your sleek little streaming device instead.
Best of all, many live TV streaming services include cloud DVR storage as well. So even though you have the benefit of being able to watch TV live, you don’t always have to watch TV live. You can record favorites for later, whether that’s 20 minutes later so you can fast-forward through the live commercials, or a month later when you have a free afternoon for some binge-watching. The choice is yours.
So while services like Netflix are a great supplement to live TV, they can’t completely replace your cable setup, at least not in the same way. It all depends on how important certain content or TV channels are to you, and if you care about watching stuff live.
What are the best TV streaming services?
Because it can be hella overwhelming to pick from all the options out there, we’re breaking down the benefits of all the best TV streaming services right here. Whether you’re looking for live TV streaming or the latest trending original series exclusive to a big-name streaming service, this quick-reference guide should steer you toward the best ones to help you cut the cord with your cable company for good.
Disney Channels Like ESPN, FX Pulled Off of Dish, Sling TV – CNET
Dish and Sling TV drop Disney, ESPN, and others due to contract dispute
Dish and its Sling TV streaming service have dropped Disney’s package of channels after the companies couldn’t come to a contract agreement (via Deadline). In an announcement on its site, Dish says the Disney Channel, ESPN, FX, Freeform, National Geographic, and some local ABC networks are no longer available on its services after its contract expired early this morning.
Dish blames the dispute on Disney, claiming the company demanded a $1 billion fee increase and “walked away from the negotiation table.” The satellite provider adds that Disney wanted Dish to include ESPN, ESPN2, and local ABC channels at an added cost in packages that don’t carry them.
Our contract has expired with The Walt Disney Company. Our goal and priority is to…
ABC, ESPN and other Disney networks go dark on Dish and Sling TV
Disney-owned channels including local ABC stations, ESPN, FX and 17 others are no longer available on Dish Network and Sling TV. Dish says Disney wanted almost $1 billion more to extend their carriage contract, which expired at 3AM ET on October 1st. As a result, Dish had to remove Disney’s channels from both platforms for the time being. As is usually the case in these situations, both sides are blaming each other for the blackout.
Dish claimed it offered Disney a contract extension, but said the latter rejected the proposal and walked away from the negotiating table. “We were not able to reach a mutual renewal agreement with Disney and without a contract in place we are legally required to remove their channels from our service,” Dish said in a statement.
Dish has accused Disney of holding “viewers hostage for negotiation leverage.” It claimed that Disney wanted Dish to insert ESPN and ESPN2 into packages that don’t currently include sports channels. In addition, it said Disney wanted to upend a policy that allows Dish subscribers to remove local channels and save money. “Now Disney wants to take this away by forcing most Dish customers in their ABC markets to pay for local channels,” Dish said.
On the flip side, Disney claimed it didn’t receive a fair offer to keep the likes of ESPN and National Geographic on Dish and Sling TV. “After months of negotiating in good faith, Dish has declined to reach a fair, market-based agreement with us for continued distribution of our networks,” Disney told Variety in a statement. “The rates and terms we are seeking reflect the marketplace and have been the foundation for numerous successful deals with pay-TV providers of all types and sizes across the country. We’re committed to reaching a fair resolution, and we urge Dish to work with us in order to minimize the disruption to their customers.”
The Disney networks that Dish had to remove from its platforms are ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNews, ESPN Deportes, Disney Channel, Disney Jr., Disney XD, Freeform, FX, FXX, FXM, National Geographic, Nat Geo Wild, Nat Geo Mundo, ACC Network, SEC Network, Longhorn Network and Baby TV. Dish also had to jettison local ABC stations in Chicago; Fresno, California; Houston; Los Angeles; New York City; Philadelphia; Raleigh, North Carolina; and San Francisco.
This is the second time in the space of a year that Disney’s channels have gone dark on a major live TV streaming service. YouTube TV lost access to them last December over a carriage fee dispute with Disney. The standoff didn’t last long, however, as the likes of ESPN and local ABC channels returned the next day.
Dish has also had battles with other media giants. HBO and Cinemax vanished from Dish and Sling TV in 2018. The channels, and HBO Max, became available on Dish again last year after it reached an agreement with WarnerMedia, which is now part of Warner Bros. Discovery. However, the channels and HBO Max still aren’t available on Sling TV.