Dish’s Sling TV launched yesterday in the U.S. and it keeps sounding more and more interesting. The basic package includes: ESPN, ABC Family, TNT, TBS, Food Network, CNN, Galavision, Maker Studios, HGTV, Cartoon Network, The Disney Channel, and Adult Swim. he streaming service announced last week that it was partnering with Univision and planning on an entirely separate package for Spanish viewers.
For five dollars a month, if you’re a sports junkie, you can get SEC Network, ESPNU, ESPNEWS, ESPN Buzzer Beater, ESPN Goal Line, ESPN Bases Loaded, Univision Deportes, Universal Sports and beIN Sports, for all of your basketball and soccer needs.
There’s also a Kids and “News” add on package for $5/month that are less interesting. The News package includes Bloomberg and HLN, the Kids has Disney Junior and BabyTV — neither sounds as exciting as Univision Deportes.
Eventually, it was announced yesterday, the service will add AMC, BBC America, BBC World News, IFC, Sundance TV and WE tv, and the $20 price tag will stay the same. XX over at Gigaom reports that Sling is targeting a younger demographic:
Sling TV is catering to cord cutters and what the company calls “cord haters,” meaning people who would love to get rid of cable but haven’t been able to in the past, primarily because of sports. Sling wants to win over this audience by offering them a lower-priced package without some of the strings that are usually attached with a traditional pay TV service.
But even with the addition of AMC and some “cool” programming, Sling sort of looks like all of the cable channels you sort of skip over anyway. Until ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, and other broadcast channels are added, will ESPN and CNN be enough of a draw for that millennial audience they’re looking for? Probably not. But it’s a good start.