I finally sat down and took a good hard look at my cable bill and…whoa. When I consider that there are probably only 4-5 cable channels I really watch, aside from premiums HBO and Showtime; I do pretty much all my watching on Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Instant Video via Roku or my smart TV. So it made sense to sign up for the 7-day free trial of the new service Sling TV, and see whether this is a smart money-saving option for families.
Related: A simple guide to cutting the cable cord: 4 of your best options
In a nutshell, Sling is a streaming cable TV service; think Spotify for TV, only it’s like a “best of” service with limited channels. You can watch on your TV through a service like Amazon Fire TV and Roku, XBox One, and then Nexus TV coming soon (though unfortunately not PS4 or Google Chromecast). And of course, watch on your Mac or PC, and your iOS or Android devices using their free app.
The main benefit: Savings. You’re going to spend only $20 a month which is a fantastic rate, for 22 of the channels that viewers are most likely to watch including CNN, AMC, TNT, TBS, IFC, HGTV, Travel Channel, ESPN and ESPN2, Bloomberg, Cartoon Network/Adult Swim, Disney Channel, ABC Family, A&E, Lifetime, and a couple of others.
They call this basic plan the “Best of TV” package, by the way, which I mention because the site is a little confusing for something that’s supposed to simplify TV watching.
In fact, while the website lists their news channels on one page, for example, it’s a bit misleading — those are all possible news channels you can get through Sling, though it’s only CNN and Bloomberg available in the basic package.
To get more, you need to add themed packages of additional channels at $5 a pop. This includes a Sports Extra package, a limited Kids Extra package (five channels including Disney Junior and Boomerang), and Lifestyle Extra which gets you the Cooking Channel, DIY and we TV
For another $15 you can add HBO including HBO on demand, which would be a given for me considering all my unguilty pleasure binge watching habits. (Veep! Game of Thrones! True Detective! Last Week Tonight!)
And then, there are opportunities for movie rentals, not that there’s any shortage of those options these days.
Overall, if this sounds like it nails your viewing habits, you’ll find Sling TV is a whole lot better than the $50-$100 you might be spending on cable, especially once you factor in all those ridiculous charges like DVR set top box monthly fees, remote “rentals” and charges for second or third TVs. If you stream through a Roku or Amazon Fire, it’s just another “channel” to watch, like Netflix. It’s easy, intuitive, and it’s nice to have access to some live programming in our on-demand world.
That said, here are the caveats:
•The biggest issue, obviously, is that there is no network TV. So even if you don’t watch network shows live like we do in some cases (we’re big Once Upon a Time fans around here), consider that for big events like the Oscars or the Super Bowl or Peter Pan Live (ha), you need another option. I’d suggest buying an HD over the air antennae for your TV. CNET offers a great guide on how to get free HDTV.
•I check in on HLN every so often (not just when Kristen or I are on it) and you have to pay to get that as one of the channels in the World News Extra package which includes channels you might not need, like France 24 and Russia Today.
•What?? No Bravo? What will I half-watch when I’m cleaning up my bedroom?
•No Weather Channel! My parents would be devastated to lose that one when they spend the night. (Update: Though evidently it’s coming shortly.)
•There are no Viacom channels at all right now. That means no MTV (and its zillion iterations), VH1, Comedy Central, TV Land, or BET. For parents, that may mean a bigger loss of Nickelodeon and Nick JR, which are mainstays for so many of you. To get your fill of Max & Ruby or Yo Gabba Gabba you’d need to get yourself the Noggin app for another $5.99 a month and stream it through your mobile device.
•To watch PBS, consider the free THIRTEEN explore app for on-demand programming which gets you favorites like Nova, Antiques Roadshow, and of course, Sesame Street. Then there’s the PBS Kids Video app which will get you on-demand kids shows for nearly every platform.Also note that starting today, Sesame Street Go is available in the Roku channel store for $3.99/month or $29.99/year.
•This is really specific to the New York area, but I love NY1 on Time-Warner (as much as Time-Warner leaves a lot to be desired), and I’d miss it for sure. You can’t even access it online unless you’re an existing TW subscriber.
•No Showtime. That’s bye to Homeland, House of Lies, Shameless, and Nurse Jackie for a lot of people.
So.
When you put that all together, what you could have is a big mishmosh of TV channel hacking if you happen to watch a lot of the channels live that Sling doesn’t offer; instead of scrolling through a single menu to see everything that’s on, you’re going to be jumping around through multiple channels and apps (wait, where is SuperWhy again?) then searching within those channels to track down what you want.
Also, while you can watch from multiple devices, unlike with other streaming video services, you can only stream Sling to a single device at a time. That’s a big caveat there, should the kids be watching Disney with their sleepover guests in one room while you settle in to watch AMC in the other. The one exception is HBO — your subscription allows you watch it on three devices at a time.
Now on the other hand, if you realize you’ve pretty much cut the cable cord already and you’re happy with relying on streaming services for the family and mobile apps for kids’ TV, but you want a few additional live TV choices, Sling is definitely a huge money saver for you.
Like, as much as $1200 a year depending on your current cable plan.
That’s a lot of savings, especially when you don’t really need MTV 16; you limit your Jimmy Fallon watching to the segment videos online; and can find a way to live without Sharknado on Syfy.
Essentially, Sling can be an incredibly smart alternative for a whole lot of people whose viewing habits have moved into the 21st century. I am realizing I am probably not one of them. But before you untether from cable completely, just remember that sometimes you don’t realize what you have until it’s gone. Or, until you see 8 million friends tweeting about THE MOST SHOCKING REAL HOUSEWIVES FINALE EVER and realize you have no access to it.
Visit Sling TV and sign up for a free seven-day trial. You’ll be auto-billed right $20 after that for the full next month, so you might set a calendar alarm for 6 days from now in case you want to cancel. If you’re ready to subscribe, don’t miss the Sling device offers for discounts on the Roku or Amazon Fire TV — or prepay for three months of Sling and get a free Roku or Fire streaming stick.
Good news!!! Sling has inked a deal (well, dish network actually) to have the weather channel soon. I’m thinking I read June but don’t quote me. Now your parents will be happy campers 😉
Thanks Ben! Now if they could work with NBC to get Bravo…
The weather channel is coming to Sling TV in July
Nice break down on Sling TV. We cut the cord 2 years ago and never looked back. We have an Apple TV with an antenna. We typically pay about $27 a month for all our content. That includes Netflix, Hulu+, but we also purchase full seasons of cable shows we watch. For instance, my wife and I love “Better Call Saul”, “Mad Men”, “American Horror Story”, and “The Walking Dead”. We buy the current season of each from iTunes and we get to watch them the day after they first air on cable. Those 4 cost us a little over $110 a year which is $9.17 a month. The best part is we own the shows so we can watch them as much as we want as long as Apple is in business.
Currently we are paying $42 because we have HBO now for Game of Thrones. While Game of Thrones is airing we binge watch all the HBO programming we want, and then we drop down to our typical $27 a month. That’s the best part of cord cutting. Since there is no contract, you can swap subscriptions based on what’s airing and save money.
Wow, great breakdown yourself, Dennis, thank you! Yes, I find the challenge is keeping up with the sign-ups and unsubscribes and swapping, but then there is definitely great savings to be had. It’s like training ourselves for this whole different way to live frugally when it comes to streaming entertainment.
I also find it a bonus that our TV habits have switched to more active as opposed to passive viewing. For instance, instead of just plopping on the couch and flipping until we find something, we actively consider what we will watch before hitting the couch. That cuts out a lot of garbage TV we used to watch (don’t get me wrong, we still have some guilty pleasures)
In addition to our quality of TV viewing getting better(with the exception of AMC, Netflix and HBO originals are much better crafted shows), we now have more productive lives in general.
All I want from Sling TV is BBC America and I will be a lifetime subscriber! C’mon guys get with it!
Thanks for the overview. I cut my cable cord 8 years ago and haven’t missed it, except The Walking Dead. I started watching it on Netflix and have to wait for new season to show up, which is annoying when everyone on FB is talking about the latest Walking Dead episode. And Hulu works great for the network shows I watch. I might give sling a try just so I can get access to current Walking Dead episodes. The only drawback I can see is the not being able to stream on 2 devices at once.
Janet,
You can buy and watch the current season of “The Walking Dead” while it’s airing from Amazon or iTunes. That’s how my wife and I watched last season. It cost us about $28 bucks for the entire season and we were able to watch it the day after it aired on AMC.
Does anyone know if Sling TV has a DVR option? Or on demand (other than HBO, as mentioned above)? That is what I think I would miss. I travel a lot and catch up on the weekend. Or I like to keep 5 SuperWhy’s on the DVR for those moments when you really need one. I would like to cut the cord, but this is what’s holding me back. Thanks for your help!
Hi Melanie, there’s no DVR aspect to Sling, but the point of having a streaming system like a Roku (see our recent review here: https://coolmomtech.com/2015/05/the-new-roku-3-review-new-features/) is that everything you watch — through Hulu, Netflix, HBO, etc — is pretty much on demand, so no need to record shows at all. That’s why binge-watching is such a thing now: all episodes of House of Cards or Blacklist, on demand, all the time. I speak from experience, here.
As for SuperWhy specifically, Sprout Online has about 5 episodes of SuperWhy on demand; you can find tons of full episodes here via YouTube (which can be watched on TV through a Roku or other streaming device); or for about $15 you can purchase a full season on Amazon which then acts as your VOD.
I guess the point is there are so many ways to catch favorite shows these days besides traditional broadcast networks, that it’s easier to cut the cord. I hope that’s helpful.
Geesh, are these questions by people who work at Sling TV?? Is this a sponsored post? This site doesn’t disclose per the FTC on this post.
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Hi Sandy, I know it’s an anomaly in the online world to just write about things we like, and not because we’re compensated to do so, but that’s what we have done for nearly 10 years. Any sponsored posts are clearly disclosed per FTC guidelines.
I thought I was pretty clear in this post that I saw Sling on my Roku and thought it was worth investigating. I subscribed to the service, and am still paying for it (because I forgot to disconnect after the trial period, dammit). I have not even had contact with anyone from Sling. In fact, if they paid for this post they’d probably be disappointed since it’s not exactly a ringing endorsement.
Feel free to email us directly at any time if you have any questions about how we decide what we feature on our site. -Liz
The info is great and well delivered. Im not a technical minded person with these things. I have been thinking about dropping my current plan. I can’t live without HGTV, Foodnetwork and Hallmark. What are your findings and suggestions?
It sounds like a basic cable subscription that includes your three favorite channels is still your best bet. You could also take a look at our post on 4 options for cutting the cable cord and see if any of them are right for you.