Cord cutters have long been waiting for ways to legitimately cut the cords and gain access to live programming without the need to also pay for cable. Dish has had the Sling Player app and some associated hardware for some time that would let you access your satellite programming, but that still meant you had to have that huge satellite bill. At CES 2015 there was a new way of making that happen on the horizon with Sling TV. The basic principle is that you pony up $20 a month and you can access all the channels that they currently offer live on your device whenever you want. Up until today the service was in beta and required an invite to check it out. Now they have opened up the flood gates with a 7 day free trial for all US-based users to get the ball rolling. Here is the list of current live channels available for your on-demand viewing pleasure:
- ESPN
- ESPN 2
- TNT
- TBS
- HGTV
- Food Network
- Travel Channel
- CNN
- Cartoon Network & Adult Swim
- ABC Family
- Disney Channel
Not a bad starting line-up. There doesn’t appear to be any “package” choice or selective channel options. I think the first company to make that happen will be in for very quick growth and large user base. For instance, I would only watch or use half of the channels, so let me pick up to 5 channels for $10 a month. Maybe one day we will get to that point, at least this is a start.
To check it out and sign up for your 7 day free trial head over to Sling.com and click on the trial link. It would seem there is no commitment time frame and you can cancel at anytime without any type of penalty. You can also get started through your Android device by installing the Sling TV app down below. FYI though, they apparently haven’t given it Chromecast support or Fire TV access yet. So this will be more of a mobile cord cutter than a home cord cutter option. I will assume it can be mirrored successfully, but that does defeat the purpose of all this great technology we have at our finger tips. I say assume because I really don’t even want to give the trial a run knowing that the two main ways I’d watch it aren’t supported.
