Sling TV is a streaming service, which was the first that got introduced into the market. It is owned by the Dish satellite network. Sling TV services are streamed via the internet. It is one of the popular and affordable streaming services operating throughout the US.
Generally, a streaming file contains a stream of data traveling from a server. A stand-alone player functions as a decoder. Here, the server, the stream of information, and the decoder function together so as to enable us to watch the live or recorded programs.
Being a popular streaming service, Sling TV helps its users to watch a wide range of live and on-demand TV channels using their computers, televisions, tablets, or any other devices. Let us try to explore more on its packages and pricing based on Sling TV reviews in 2019.
What are the Sling TV Packages and Pricing?
Sling TV provides three packages, namely, Sling Orange, Sling Blue, and Sling Orange + Sling Blue. As per the popular Sling TV reviews, it is the cheapest of all the streaming services available in the market.
Sling TV packages | Price | No. of Channels | Premium Channels offered |
---|---|---|---|
Sling Orange | $25/month | 29 | Includes BBC America, Cartoon network, CNN, Disney channel, Comedy Central, ESPN, Food Central, TNT, and Travel Channel |
Sling Blue | $25/month | 42 | Includes BBC America, Bravo, Cartoon network, CNN, Food network, FOX, HGTV, History, NFL network, and national geographic channel |
Sling Orange + Sling Blue | $40/month | 48 | Includes all channels covered in both Orange and Blue packages |
These packages would be the best to opt for the live TV lovers, as it would be among the cheapest live streaming services in the market as per the recent Sling TV reviews.
How are the Packages and Pricing Categorized According to Sling TV Reviews?
Sling TV is affordable. If you closely notice the packages offered by Sling TV, both Sling Blue and Sling Orange cost the same. But, the number of channels provided by Sling Blue is more than 42 channels, whereas, Sling Orange offers only 29+ channels for the same price.
If you clearly notice the difference, the channels included in the Sling TV Blue package make that difference. It is the choice of channels that makes the difference. If you wish to watch sports channels like ESPN and if your kids prefer watching Disney channels, then you could opt for Sling Orange. But, if you wish to watch FOX and USA, then you can go for Sling TV Blue.
When you wish to watch the channels provided by both the packages of Sling TV, namely, Blue and Orange, you can opt for Sling TV Blue + Sling TV Orange. In that case, you can save a lot of money.
Another important fact to note is that Sling TV orange is a single stream service, which enables only one user to be watched at a time. Sling Blue allows three streams, which enables the various users to record or watch multiple channels at a time. When you opt for Sling Blue plus Sling Orange, then you can have up to four streams, which includes one stream of Orange and three streams of Blue.
Sling TV Reviews for Local Channels offered
Sling TV offers local channels like NBC and FOX wherever you live. Some of the other local channels like ABC, CBS, and PBS are also included in the packages, depending on where you live.
Compared to the number of local channels offered by other traditional TV packages, Sling TV offers only limited number of local channels. This is slightly disadvantageous for sports lovers who like watching local sports channels and lovers of other local channel programs.
Sling TV Premium Channels
Every traditional cable or satellite operator will provide certain premium channels in their packages. Sling streaming service is also competitive in this aspect. It is also able to provide premium channels for which it charges. It allows the premium channels to be chosen by its customers as per their choice. It is the same with many of the traditional TV services as well, which makes its services on par with the traditional TV services.
Premium Channels | Price |
---|---|
HBO | $15/month |
Starz | $9/month |
ShowTime | $10/month |
EPIX | $5/month |
Pantaya | $6/month |
Up Faith & Family | $5/month |
CuriosityStream | $3/month |
Cinemax | $10/month |
These premium channels are generally paid channels and these prices are quite common, whether it is included in the streaming service or in your traditional TV service.
What is Sling TV Extras?
Sling TV offers some of the packages which comprises of certain extra channels. These packages are called add-on packages or Sling Extra. They are quite cheaper. Most of the channels cost $5 extra.
People might have various interests like watching sports, movies, and music. Kids will have a different interest. It would be difficult to include everyone’s interest in the primary packages. Then the pricing would go higher.
So, in order to cater to the needs of every customer and also to keep the pricing at affordable rates, the Sling TV Extras are focused on different genres. These mini Sling TV packages focus on specific genres. People can include the genres that they require and pay accordingly.
Some of the Sling TV Extras include Sports Extra, Kids Extra, Comedy Extra, News Extra, Lifestyle Extra, Hollywood Extra, and Heartland Extra.
Sports Extra includes some of the channels like NBA, NHL network, ESPN channels, Golf channel, and NFL Red Zone.
Kids Extra includes channels like Boomerang, Disney channels, and Nicktoons.
Comedy Extra includes some of the channels like Paramount, MTV, Logo, and CMT.
News Extra includes channels like BBC World News, The Blaze, and CNBC.
Lifestyle Extra includes channels like FYI, DIY, Cooking Channel, Hallmark, and Lifetime movies.
Though the packages and reviews mainly concentrate on popular channels, it also takes into account the interest of several foreigners living in the US. Because of this, TV packages also include add-ons which belong to foreign languages.
How to get DVR Facility when you opt for Sling TV?
Sling TV’s DVR helps you to record your favorite shows and store it in the cloud storage provided by it. For a cost of $5 per month, it is possible for you to record up to 50 hours. This comes to a period of unlimited time length.
When you start storing streaming content, you would finally get your storage exhausted. In that case, Sling TV will automatically go ahead and delete your shows stored in Cloud storage. Then it starts storing the show that you record, right from the beginning.
So, when you require some of your favorite shows not to be deleted, then, it is good to delete unwanted shows from your cloud storage to keep some free space for you to record your next favorite show. If you don’t do it, you would lose your favorite programs stored.
If you have opted for Sling TV Orange, then, you can record one show at a time. At the same time, if you have opted for Sling TV Blue, you can record three shows simultaneously.
How is the Sling TV Packages Different from Traditional TV Providers?
Sling TV is cheaper compared to the traditional TV packages. It requires internet to view. A reliable connection of at least 25 Mbps helps you to stream the content without any disturbance. You can watch your Sling TV in your phone, computer, game console or tablet.
Unlike the traditional television networks, which require contracts, Sling TV requires no contract. When you don’t require it, you can cancel your Sling TV subscription.
Who Prefer Watching Sling TV as per Sling TV Reviews?
Generally, senior citizens prefer watching their favorite shows using traditional TV packages with cable or satellite television network rather than streaming the content. They prefer watching them as live programs during their leisure time.
The traditional TV channels do provide DVR facilities to record their favorite channels. In spite of it, age definitely brings in a novel change. Youngsters today prefer using streaming services. They prefer watching original series which are not available in traditional TV channels. This can be satisfied by streaming contents provided by streaming TV services.
Sometimes, you might suddenly come across a show in TV, which you would prefer to watch. But, you might not be able to watch older episodes in traditional TV. But, when you opt for streaming services like Sling TV, you can watch older episodes, current episodes, and even newly released movies.
Is it Possible to Skip Commercials with Sling TV Packages?
Sling TV shows have commercials and ads. At the same time, it is possible to skip the commercials for the shows recorded using the DVR facility and stored in cloud storage.
But, when you are watching live shows on traditional TV channels, you might not be able to skip or fast-forward the programs in certain channels. It is possible to watch on-demand content as well.
Video-On-Demand (VOD) with Sling TV
Sling TV provides a wide range of selection of movies and shows on-demand. It is to be extended further in future. You can find movies, shows, and documentaries through the on-demand service of Sling TV.
Sling TV does not select the channel content that is available for on-demand content. The channels available deserve the right to choose whether the content could stay there for long or not. Sling TV guide will be useful in providing information about what is available in on-demand content.
Sling TV Orange offers more than 100 hours of on-demand content for free. The content includes on-demand movies and shows.
What is the recommended internet speed as per Sling TV reviews?
When there is a reliable internet with good speed, it would be an ideal condition to do video streaming. When you have opted for any of the Sling TV packages and prefer to watch Sling TV on your iPhone, then you might require some 3 Mbps speed. But, if you have a TV or PC to watch it, you might require slightly higher speed.
On the whole, for watching a video streaming content without any disturbance, you might require 25 Mbps internet speed. So, it would be the best to have an internet speed of minimum 25 Mbps to watch Sling TV.
Free Content When You Decide to Quit Sling TV?
For your surprise, when you opt for cancellation of your subscription of Sling TV packages, you are still provided with 100+ hours of movies and shows. This facility is given only to previous customers.
The free content is now available only for Roku devices and the same will be extended to all devices and all Sling TV customers in the near future.
How’s the Quality of Service with Sling TV Packages?
As it requires an internet connection for streaming the Sling TV packages, it becomes necessary for a reliable internet connection to watch Sling TV. When the connection is reliable with at least 25 Mbps speed, then definitely you can look forward for streaming content with good picture quality.
When there is a high speed connection, you can expect excellent picture quality. It gives stereo sound in live TV and maintains a good sound quality.
How’s the User Interface and Experience with Sling TV?
The integrated search feature on Sling TV makes searching experience in a Sling TV catalog much flexible. The User Interface gives a better experience on a tablet or touch-screen phone. This is because the Sling TV is adapted to touch-screen devices rather than cursor based navigational devices.
Watching Sling TV on smaller TV screens is better compared to bigger screens of around 65 inches. When the screen size is smaller, poor resolution, if any, would go unnoticed. So, it looks fabulous to watch Sling TV on smaller TV screens, tablets, and phones.
Sling TV has also come up with recent improvements in the search interface. When you try to search for content, it gives you options to choose from the popular searches.
When you watch a show continuously, Sling TV prompts you to play the next episode of the show or the new episode of the show, once you have watched the present episode of the show. All these features are desirable to the users who watch this TV.
Sling TV Free Trials and Discounts
Though there are hundreds of channels provided by traditional TV operators, you might not be watching all the channels. You might be very choosy about watching certain channels which are quite popular or suitable to your interests. Those interesting channels might be available in Sling TV channel packages.
In order to decide upon in going ahead with Sling TV subscription, it provides a free trial period for seven days for the new subscribers. This 7-day period will definitely help you in making up a right decision about whether to go for Sling TV, which of the packages to choose, and other factors to consider.
Moreover, numerous Sling TV reviews help us to know about the various deals and offers provided by Sling TV every now and then.
Conclusive Thoughts
Sling TV packages are cheaper options compared to traditional TV packages. Also, it provides 50 hours of cloud storage for storing your favorite shows, which lets you watch them again and again at any time you want.
Though you have a very little space for package selection, you have lot of add-on options to select your favorite genres. This helps you to provide your family members with the channels that they require.