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SlingTV - Dish Networks appeal to cord-cutters

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DarkFlow said:
So sling is blacking out shows on certain channel's. Nothing major, but it's not a great precedent.

http://arstechnica.com/business/201...newest-channels-come-with-restricted-content/
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jamesinclair said:
LOL, wtf is this.

Party is over folks. What a shit fest
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Sounds like those shows have certain rights in place for streaming. It's more than likely the reason why those channels weren't available on the service during its launch -- probably had to negotiate it so I wouldn't call it a trend.

Highly doubt that a lot of people are subscribing to Sling TV for the Lifetime channels anyway.
 
Hmm. hope that's not going to be a common thing. I'm really liking Sling so far but if content I want to watch is blocked I'm bailing out.
 
The oddest part is sometimes at 12:30am-ish every channel will be blacked out. The channels won't say restricted, they'll simply say "upcoming" and you can't watch.

I get it, Sling is cheap, cable channels are powerful, but hope this isn't a major issue.

Also, cannot believe Sling hides on demand content in "channel details." Who the hell looks there.

Also also, the fast forward button is infuriating. When it's enabled, it simply jumps forward a few seconds (Roku). I need to tap fast forward 2,000 times to go forward fifteen minutes. What!
 
Are they not specifically disclosing what's blacked out and what is not before you sign up? They should have a list of programs not available.
 
Bgamer90 said:
Sounds like those shows have certain rights in place for streaming. It's more than likely the reason why those channels weren't available on the service during its launch -- probably had to negotiate it so I wouldn't call it a trend.

Highly doubt that a lot of people are subscribing to Sling TV for the Lifetime channels anyway.
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Don't you think this might be an issue when a certain NFL season starts? College bowls?
 
PlayStation vue was doing the same thing a few weeks ago. There was a vague messaging stating "nothing is wrong with your service. This program is not available at this time"
 
jamesinclair said:
Don't you think this might be an issue when a certain NFL season starts? College bowls?
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Not really. College bowls will be fine. College bowls air on ESPN3 -- ESPN's streaming network in which people don't even need cable TV subscriptions to watch.

Monday Night Football may be restricted to only Sling TV on Roku, Xbox, and other TV boxes/sticks though. I say that because WatchESPN usually blocks the ability to watch Monday Night Football via smartphone (guessing its due to NFL's restrictions).
 
Holy shit if HBO comes to Sling TV.....

But it would probably just be live TV, and not the entire backlog like HBO Go, right?
 
Wow. I wan't as interested since I was afraid it would only be the Live version, but with HBO Go like back catalog, that's way more appealing.
 
http://blog.sling.com/announcements/hbo-is-coming-to-sling-tv/

The rumors are true, and it’s not an April Fool’s joke: HBO is coming to Sling TV.

Starting next week, Sling TV will be the first and only Internet TV service to offer live HBO and ESPN. Sling TV will offer HBO’s linear channel, as well as the mountain of on-demand content that HBO provides on its other platforms.

You don’t need me to tell you what a big deal this is, both for us and for our customers: HBO delivers hit shows and movies that TV viewers crave, and with this addition Sling TV becomes the only streaming service that offers both HBO and ESPN without a cable subscription.

In addition to all the movies that HBO keeps in its on-demand rotation, from top box office hits to a broad spectrum of popular films, customers can watch both current series like Veep, Silicon Valley, VICE, Real Time With Bill Maher, Girls, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, and classics like The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, The Wire, Eastbound & Down, and many, many more.

Best of all, we’ll be up and running in time for one of the most important TV moments of the year: the April 12 season premiere of Game of Thrones.

HBO will be available for $15 when customers sign up for the $20 Best of Live TV core package, and will be available on all devices that Sling TV supports: Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick; current-generation Roku players and Roku TV models; Xbox One; Android and iOS devices; and Macs and PCs.
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Only downside here is if you weren't interested in SlingTV and were just looking for HBO. It's going to be an add on, so the price of entry in those instances is now $35.

I'd imagine that, plus the hardware device factor, are probably what make up the 'exclusivity'.

In any case, glad to see it added.
 
I'm totally in. I've currently been giving SlingTV a try and was drooling over the prospect of HBO Now. So now instead of two apps, it'll just be one! Works for me.
 
Trying to figure out if I should try this, hrm....

Right now I'm using Comcast's Internet Plus deal. that's $78.14/month (after taxes) for:
-50 megabit internet
-HD DVR cable box
-Local channels (so no Cable channels)
-HBO + HBO Go (maybe just for a limited time, don't remember)

Pretty great deal actually.


The problem is if I drop everything Cable, the best Comcast will offer me for standalone Internet service is 25 megabit internet @ $61.95/month (before taxes) I'd probably save.....$10/month?

Then if I want Sling TV + HBO, that's $35/month, and will get me many more channels than I have now, but for a total of nearly $100/month.
 
Is anyone having a ton of problems with the TBS channel right now? It's constantly stalling right now and the final four just happens to be on....
 
I'm not sure why people are freaking out over HBO coming to Sling TV. What's the difference who you're paying?


EDIT - nevermind, kind of. I see this actually includes a linear channel. Granted, I'm not sure how that's any sort of major plus anyway.
 
Raistlin said:
I'm not sure why people are freaking out over HBO coming to Sling TV. What's the difference who you're paying?


EDIT - nevermind, kind of. I see this actually includes a linear channel. Granted, I'm not sure how that's any sort of major plus anyway.
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If you don't see the plus side of having HBO, ESPN, AMC, TNT, etc. for $35, then this probably isn't for you. I was paying over $100 a month for those channels before. Sure, I had way more channels previously, but I didn't watch anything on most of them, ever.
 
Iadien said:
If you don't see the plus side of having HBO, ESPN, AMC, TNT, etc. for $35, then this probably isn't for you. I was paying over $100 a month for those channels before.
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You are misconstruing my point. Hear me out (and note, pre-edit I thought this was purely on-demand).

In short order, several different providers will be offering access to HBO NOW, and once the Apple timed-exclusive is up, it will be on numerous devices. So what is the difference if I pay Dish an extra $15 to get HBO content, or I go with some other provider and pay the same $15 to use the HBO NOW app? It's unlikely that switching to the on-demand section and moving to the HBO area within the SlingTV app is going to be a dramatically faster/more convenient experience than simply hitting the home button and launching the HBO NOW app on my settop box. Not to mention there is no guarantee the layout and UI will actually be better than the one provided in the dedicated HBO NOW app.

So in my mind, it's a gamble you're gaining anything beyond a single bill for your trouble. And potentially, an actual inferior interface. Guess we'll know once it's testable.



Now that I realize it includes a linear channel, I guess that can help for some? That said, I'd make the argument HBO is actually a crappy choice for a lean back experience anyway. I throw on HGTV, the Science Channel, etc. when I want some background random shit on. HBO is primarily movies and heavily serialized shows. By their nature the content isn't generally something you want to jump into mid-stream. Making it worse is it's a single channel. At least with cable packages you typically receive several HBO's, which makes channel surfing a bit more feasible.

Granted that's all IMO. If some people really feel the need for lean back HBO, it's good to have options. I'm always for options, just not sure of the hype in this case.
 
I read that sling TV does have VOD of its channels, how quickly does a new ep on AMC show? Next day? With Sling TV adding HBO, it circumvents the need for Apple products. Now to decide between roku and Amazon Fire
 
Now if I could only get broadband only from Comcast for less than 79.99..smh

I wish my DSL option had better speeds, I'm not sure it'll handle streaming reliably...
 
superdeluxe said:
I read that sling TV does have VOD of its channels, how quickly does a new ep on AMC show? Next day? With Sling TV adding HBO, it circumvents the need for Apple products. Now to decide between roku and Amazon Fire
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Fire TV with kodi on it is great.my sister has the roku and it's good but I like having twitch and kodi available on the spot
 
superdeluxe said:
I read that sling TV does have VOD of its channels, how quickly does a new ep on AMC show? Next day? With Sling TV adding HBO, it circumvents the need for Apple products. Now to decide between roku and Amazon Fire
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Have you though? I would imagine this will only be available to iOS SlingTV apps until the Apple exclusivity ends. Either that, or Dish can't actually add it until the end of the exclusivity.

Otherwise what did Apple actually pay for?
 
superdeluxe said:
I read that sling TV does have VOD of its channels, how quickly does a new ep on AMC show? Next day? With Sling TV adding HBO, it circumvents the need for Apple products. Now to decide between roku and Amazon Fire
Click to expand...

It really depends. If you're interested in using KODI, then get Fire TV, if not, I say go with Roku.

Raistlin said:
Have you though? I would imagine this will only be available to iOS SlingTV apps until the Apple exclusivity ends. Either that, or Dish can't actually add it until the end of the exclusivity.

Otherwise what did Apple actually pay for?
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"Best of all, we’ll be up and running in time for one of the most important TV moments of the year: the April 12 season premiere of Game of Thrones.

HBO will be available for $15 when customers sign up for the $20 Best of Live TV core package, and will be available on all devices that Sling TV supports: Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick; current-generation Roku players and Roku TV models; Xbox One; Android and iOS devices; and Macs and PCs."

Technically Apple still gets the App first over the other devices. It's just not as exclusive as we thought it was during the announcement of HBO on Apple.
 
Seems like a good number of people had issues with last night's Wisconsin game. The game was fine for me.

Did any of you guys have issues?
 
Raistlin said:
Have you though? I would imagine this will only be available to iOS SlingTV apps until the Apple exclusivity ends. Either that, or Dish can't actually add it until the end of the exclusivity.

Otherwise what did Apple actually pay for?
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Apple payed for HBO now, the stand alone $15 a month VOD HBO. SlingTV is adding normal HBO with a live channel and you get HBO Go.
 
I would seriously pay an extra $10/month just for Comedy Central. Has there been any indication that Viacom is going to open up relations with Sling? I know they are already on Playstation Vue, so obviously they aren't completely opposed to ditching the cable infrastructure.
 
border said:
I would seriously pay an extra $10/month just for Comedy Central. Has there been any indication that Viacom is going to open up relations with Sling? I know they are already on Playstation Vue, so obviously they aren't completely opposed to ditching the cable infrastructure.
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No indication yet, but wont be surprised if something came up eventually.
 
border said:
I would seriously pay an extra $10/month just for Comedy Central. Has there been any indication that Viacom is going to open up relations with Sling? I know they are already on Playstation Vue, so obviously they aren't completely opposed to ditching the cable infrastructure.
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At some point, adding all this stuff is going to push the price back up to cable. Then there's zero point of buying this.
 
border said:
I would seriously pay an extra $10/month just for Comedy Central. Has there been any indication that Viacom is going to open up relations with Sling? I know they are already on Playstation Vue, so obviously they aren't completely opposed to ditching the cable infrastructure.
Click to expand...

DarkFlow said:
At some point, adding all this stuff is going to push the price back up to cable. Then there's zero point of buying this.
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I have Hulu Plus for all the Viacom content. Don't really care if Sling TV ever gets it.
 
DarkFlow said:
Apple payed for HBO now, the stand alone $15 a month VOD HBO. SlingTV is adding normal HBO with a live channel and you get HBO Go.
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Oh I see, that makes sense then. Thanks


I wonder if they'll actually integrate any on-demand or will you literally just use the HBO GO app?
 
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