Dish's Sling TV tops internet TV providers with 2.21M subscribers

Sling TV reached 2.21 million subscribers during the fourth quarter, Dish announced on Wednesday, marking the first time the company has broken Sling figures out from broader numbers.

That puts it ahead of AT&T's DirecTV Now, which has some 1.2 million customers, and Sony's PlayStation Vue, which is estimated to have 670,000 people, according to TechCrunch. Hulu has about 450,000 live TV customers, while Google's YouTube TV has somewhere north of 300,000.

Sling has enjoyed several advantages. It was one of the first major internet TV services to launch, and also one of the first to offer ESPN to sports addicts. It remains one of the cheaper options on the market — plans start at $20 per month, and can be customized with add-on packages for channels like HBO.

Apple device owners can watch Sling TV on the Web, or on a dedicated app for iPhones, iPads, and the Apple TV. Some other supported platforms include Android, Roku, Chromecast, Xbox One, and smart TVs.

Apple was at one point rumored to have wanted to become a TV provider itself, but encountered too much negotiation resistance to its idea of a low-cost "skinny" channel bundle. It's now moving ahead with its own show slate, premiering in 2019.

20 Comments

macxpress 5902 comments · 16 Years

About 6 years ago

If they could provide locals that would be great!

levi 344 comments · 10 Years

We’ve gone back and forth between Sling and Direct TV Now. The latter IMO has a better interface, but we’ve found the quality of transmission to be spotty. For example the NBA All Star game the other night was so pixelated, it was near impossible to watch. We don’t watch a lot of network tv, so when we do tune in, and get lowered than SD quality, it’s pretty frustrating. We did a quick free trial with Sling, and watched the game there. Picture quality was miles better. The Apple TV 4 deal through Direct TV is it’s best feature.

baka-dubbs 178 comments · 13 Years

macxpress said:

If they could provide locals that would be great!

Some of the services have some or all of your locals. I'm currently using Directv now, I signed up for the 3 month deal to get the free 4k Apple Tv. Services isn't bad, but the lack of DVR is tough to deal with. I was using a PS4 to stream Playstation Vue, but after switch to the Apple Tv the picture quality is massively improved(used the Vue app until my remaining month ran out). Both Vue and Directv look good through the Apple tv, though I get occasional stuttering on the Direct.
Ive tried all of the services(though I tried youtube tv before they had dedicated apps on devices) and Vue is my favorite. Directv is probably a better deal, especially if your adding HBO or Showtime for 5 bucks a month. I'm going to give youtube tv another shot after my 3 months on Directv run out. I found sling to be limited, worse streaming quality, and the price can jump quickly, but if you want a really skinny bundle its not bad.

wood1208 2929 comments · 10 Years

Any Streaming service that come closer to A la Carte package choice than that will win in market place. People want to watch when,where and how, a package with there choice of channels at reasonable cost.

d_2 129 comments · 7 Years

Locals availability is mostly dependent on the market, not the OTT provider (Sling, ATT DT Now, Vue...)

In my opinion, it’s the one advantage that the cable companies still has vs OTT, assuming you can’t do a blended OTT service with an HD Homerun/antenna for locals (my current configuration).

All of that said – my local cable company has figured out that they finally better change their ways. They now offer a $22 a month package with all locals and I get to pick any 10 standard cable channels that I want. Progress ?