One of the most common knocks against Dish’s Sling TV streaming service is that it just doesn’t offer you enough channels for the $20/month subscription, but today Sling will get more attractive to some as AMC and IFC are added to the base package of channels at no additional cost, while users also have the option of a $5 premium bundle from Epix. [More]
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Dish: Comcast Could Still Use Its Size To Block Streaming Content
By 3.3.15
The FCC’s recently approved net neutrality rules will prohibit all Internet service providers from blocking any legal content from being sent or received by their users. But when an ISP also controls the nation’s largest pay-TV audience, perhaps it could use that leverage to prevent certain content from ever going online in the first place. [More]
Dish Says Sony’s Streaming Service Will Be Real Substitute For Cable
By 2.24.15
Just a few weeks ago, Dish launched its Sling TV streaming service which some hailed as a cord-cutter’s dream, but which is honestly more targeted at people who want only the most basic cable TV access without having to deal with cable companies. Dish’s founder (and soon-to-return CEO) recognizes Sling’s limits and says that Sony’s forthcoming streaming service is likely to be the real marketplace disruptor. [More]
Don’t Hold Your Breath Waiting For A Streaming Option From DirecTV
By 2.20.15
The future may be online, but satellite pay-TV company DirecTV isn’t exactly rushing to embrace that future with open arms. The CEO of DirecTV this week admitted that the company is investigating the option of starting their own streaming service, but he was less than enthusiastic about the idea, seeing it as unlikely to be profitable. [More]
T-Mobile Claims It’s Bigger Than Sprint, Open To Working With Dish On Wireless Services
By 2.19.15
With AT&T and Verizon comfortably controlling the two lead spots in the U.S. wireless market, it’s left to Sprint and T-Mobile to duke it out over the third-place position. And if you believe the latest chest-thumping from T-Mo CEO John Legere, his company is now at least tied with Sprint if not ahead. [More]
DirecTV Benefits From Dish’s Blackouts, Gains 149K Subscribers
By 2.19.15
After six months of losing subscribers, DirecTV bounced back in the last quarter, adding a net 149,000 customers for its satellite TV service. Why the sudden change in fortunes? It has a little something to do with Dish Network’s very public carriage disputes in recent months. [More]
Sling TV Chooses Epix For Its First Premium Movie Package
By 2.16.15
Dish’s Sling TV streaming service is currently a pretty bare-bones operation, with only about a dozen channels and very little in the way of on-demand content. Today the service announced its first partnership with a premium pay-TV movie network. And no, it’s not HBO, Showtime, or even Starz. [More]
New MLB Commissioner Won’t Do Anything To Get Dodgers Back On L.A. TV
By 2.13.15
With pitchers and catchers set to report to spring training in the coming week, and the start of the 2015 Major League Baseball season fewer than eight weeks away, the overwhelming majority of Dodgers fans in Los Angeles are still unable to watch their hometown team on TV. And even though now-former MLB Commissioner Bud Selig had said during his final months that the league would do “everything we can to break the impasse,” those words now ring hollow as Selig’s replacement has confirmed he wants nothing to do with getting baseball back on TV in L.A. [More]
Free Amazon, Roku Streaming Devices If You Prepay For 3 Months Of Sling TV
By 2.12.15
While some people have touted the recently launched Sling TV service as an option for cord-cutters, it’s really better-targeted to consumers who don’t have cable but want a few more live-TV viewing options. That’s why the service is now pushing deals that will allow some Sling subscribers to get free or deeply discounted streaming devices. [More]
Sling To Get ‘Mad Men’ & ‘Walking Dead’ With Addition Of AMC
By 2.9.15
We’ve already given you some reasons to possibly think twice before signing up for Dish’s $20/month Sling TV, but here’s some good news — the company confirmed today that it will be adding AMC to the lineup of channels available on the live TV streaming service. [More]
Are Cable Companies Lowering HBO Rates In Advance Of Standalone HBO Go?
By 1.30.15
Though we still don’t know a specific launch date, name, or monthly cost of HBO’s upcoming standalone streaming service, it looks like some pay-TV providers are cutting their rates for the premium service or offering discounted promotions in advance of its debut. [More]
Fox News Returns To Dish Network After New Contract Ends Blackout Dispute
By 1.16.15
Consumers don’t usually see all the ins-and-outs of TV negotiations, except when a contract expires and a channel wants more money than a provider is willing to pay. When the fight gets bad enough, the parties go nuclear and a channel gets blacked out. Fox News viewers who subscribe to Dish have seen — or rather, not seen — that blackout up close and personal for the last three weeks, but the feud between the two is now over. [More]
Why Dish’s Sling TV Is A Factor In Pending Comcast/Time Warner Cable Merger
By 1.15.15
Later this month, Dish will finally launch its much-awaited Sling TV streaming service that gives subscribers live online access to a dozen cable channels. And even though Sling has yet to go live, it’s already being factored into the pending mega-merger between Comcast and Time Warner Cable. [More]
Dish’s Sling TV Streaming Service Wins Best Of CES Award
By 1.9.15
A few years back, Dish’s Hopper DVR with Sling technology was supposed to be take home the Best of CES award from CNET, but that site’s parent company (CBS) said the prize couldn’t be given to the DVR because CBS was involved in litigation with Dish over the Hopper. This led to CNET no longer being the ones behind the “Best Of” awards and to the CEA stepping in to award Dish with the title it had rightfully earned. Now Dish has won that top award again, but without the drama. [More]
Hands-On With Dish’s Sling TV Streaming Service. Is It Worth The $20?
By 1.6.15
Yesterday, Dish finally unveiled its long-awaited live-TV streaming video service Sling TV, which brings a slate of about a dozen basic-cable channels to users for $20/month. Today, we were able to get our hands and eyes on the service here at International CES to see whether it might be worth cutting the cord. [More]
Dish Bringing 4K TV To New Set-Top Boxes
By 1.5.15
With the industry hoping to sell several million 4K, ultra hi-def, TV sets in the coming year, pay-TV providers are hurrying up to catch on and provide content that makes those fancy screens worth the investment. Today, Dish announced that it is launching what it claims to be the first pay-TV set-top box for 4K video. It’s not as important an announcement as the Sling TV news, but it’s worth a mention for those of you thinking about buying a 4K TV. [More]
Dish To Launch Standalone Sling TV Streaming Service For $20/Month
By 1.5.15
After months of speculation, Dish finally announced more details on its much-awaited standalone live-TV streaming service. First up — it’s going to be called Sling TV and will be commercially available later this month. [More]
Dish, Consumer Advocates Ask FCC To Block Comcast/TWC Merger As Final Comment Deadline Hits
By 12.23.14
The Comcast/TWC merger is once again in a brief time-out, but that didn’t stop today from being a major milestone in the FCC’s review process. At long last, the final deadline for the back-and-forth of comments, replies, and replies to replies has come, and merger opponents are taking advantage of their one last chance to ask the FCC to prevent a consumer disaster before it happens. [More]
