The streaming market is in full bloom and there's no shortage of options to choose from. The industry has experienced major changes in just a handful of years, seeing the launch of services that include live television, cloud-based DVR, offline on-demand content, and a growing body of original shows. What can customers expect rolling into the new year?
Unexpected price increases, terms of service that change with no warning, and a gradual sense that you're paying more and more but getting nothing extra: the same complaints that led many to cut the cord are starting to crop up again, only this time around on-demand services. Indeed, it's not been a great week for cord-cutters trying to be frugal with their home entertainment.
Sling TV has raised its base price by $5 a month, though it's hoping a new array of channel subscription options will encourage cord-cutters to stick around. The new Sling TV includes a set of free content that users without an active subscription will be able to watch, along with the company's take on Amazon Channels.
The folks at Dish have a device called AirTV, a device that shares a name with a device that they've now re-named "AirTV Player." This new AirTV device is a box that connects to a cord that picks up local TV signals via an antenna. With this device, you can watch local TV channels "for free" with an app on mobile devices and smart TVs.
Online live television streaming service Sling TV has expanded Cloud DVR support, adding Chromecast, Chrome, and the Xbox One to the list of supported devices. As well, the company is also adding support for select smart TVs, enabling users to take advantage of the platform's DVR service. The support covers some older smart TV models, but new Samsung smart TV owners will be disappointed.
Unlike with music streaming, video streaming is going strong, perhaps even stronger. While cord-cutting alternatives like Netflix, YouTube, and the like continue to rise, the desire and need for live TV programs have never gone away. In fact, it’s exactly because of the rise of video streaming that the demand for live TV streaming services has also increased.
Just like traditional cable or satellite TV services, there are quite a few to choose from, and sometimes more choices within each service. We take a look at five of the biggest live TV services, AT&T DirecTV Now, Hulu Live TV, Dish Sling TV, Sony PlayStation Vue, and Google YouTube TV to see how they fare against each other.
AirTV announced that their device will soon allow Local Channels DVR in their customer beta program. This feature is called Local Channels DVR and it'll be available for free to all AirTV Player users (in Beta form, anyway.) This feature is now one of two similar features, the other being Sling TV's in-app Cloud DVR, which also allows recorded OTA programming and recorded OTT content to be accessed by users at any time.
Sling TV has just announced the addition of NBA League Pass to its list of optional subscriptions, giving its customers a way to watch their favorite NBA content on the Sling TV platform. The pass is available on Sling Orange and Sling Blue plans, as well as its international and Spanish language services. This option will soon be joined by Team Pass, as well.
Sling TV has announced that it is the first OTT service to arrive on Samsung smart TVs, giving owners of certain models the ability to watch the service directly on the television set, no third-party device necessary. Sling TV, of course, is a live and on-demand television service that delivers content over the Internet rather than through a cable or satellite box. The app is already widely available on a variety of other devices.
Sling TV, the over-the-Internet live television service from Dish Network, has announced a pair of new promotions that hope to lure in new subscribers. One of those promotions, which offers a free OTA TV antenna and an AirTV device, is already live; the other, which gives users a free month of service, goes live tomorrow (and tomorrow only).
As sporting events go, boxing matches are rarely must-see endeavors for a wide audience. For the dedicated boxing fan, Mayweather vs. McGregor was one of those times. For more casual fans – and those who prefer MMA – the bout was a litmus test for which discipline might be supreme. We didn’t learn much from the fight itself as that goes, but how I was able to consume the fight told me volumes about the future of TV, where Sling is already winning.
If you prefer to stream live television on your laptop rather than through the company's mobile apps, a new beta launch should get you excited. The company has announced the arrival of Sling TV streaming in Google's Chrome browser, though the entire thing is still in a beta right now. The streaming is possible within Chrome sans the use of a plugin or app.