Movies and TV Dish Network announces Virtual Cable - Page 7

**dirk digler** · 01-05-2015, 01:29 PM

Sounds promising and will be interesting to see if other companies follow suit.

Quote:

http://money.cnn.com/2015/01/05/medi...ble/index.html
Is the future of cable a "personal subscription service" with a small bundle of television and online video channels delivered to phones, tablets and Internet-connected TV sets?

Well, it's one potential future, as portrayed by the Dish Network in a first-of-its-kind "virtual cable" announcement on Monday.

Dish, a pioneer in satellite TV, is preparing to launch Sling TV, a bundle of channels -- including ESPN and CNN -- that will be delivered via the Internet to subscribers. Sling's "core package" will cost just $20 per month, far less than most cable packages, mainly because it includes a small number of channels.

For the small but growing number of cord-cutters in the United States, Sling TV might be a reason to reconnect -- particularly because it's a low-cost way to receive ESPN. It may also pave the way for changes to the cable bundles that about 100 million households currently pay for.
But for the time being, the service is experimental; Dish CEO Joseph Clayton calls it "a viable alternative for live television to the millennial audience."

Dish announced the new offering during the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The company declined to say when exactly it'll launch, other than "first quarter of 2015."

Sling TV is groundbreaking for a couple of reasons. One, it's entirely in the cloud; it requires no set-top-box or satellite dish (and annoying wait for the cable guy). It is bring-your-own-broadband.

Two, it is a per-person subscription, like Spotify, not a per-household subscription like traditional cable, satellite and broadband.

Three, it defies the television industry norm of bundling all of a company's channels together. For example, and probably most importantly for potential subscribers, Sling TV will include ESPN and ESPN2, but not ESPN's ancillary channels.

ESPN's parent, The Walt Disney Company, struck an Internet distribution deal with Dish (DISH) last spring.

Sling TV -- which has no relation to another product owned by Dish, the Slingbox -- will also carry ten other channels at launch: Disney's ABC Family and Disney Channel; Scripps Networks' Food Network, HGTV and Travel Channel; and Time Warner's TNT, TBS, Adult Swim, Cartoon Network, and CNN.
(Time Warner is the parent of this web site.)

The typical channel bundle sold by Dish and its competitors includes hundreds of channels. Through Sling TV, additional channels will be available via $5 per month "add-on packs." One of the packs will include CNN's sibling HLN, Bloomberg TV, Cooking Channel, and DIY.

Absent from Monday's announcement are any channels owned by Viacom, like MTV; 21st Century Fox, like FX; Comcast, like Bravo; and any broadcast networks, like CBS and NBC.

But the bundle will include a selection of web series from Maker Studios, the online video maker that Disney acquired last year.

Sling TV said it expected to "expand its core package, video-on-demand content, online video and add-on packs throughout 2015."

Dish's introduction of Sling will be closely watched within the media industry, since several forms of "virtual cable" are being explored by various companies.

Making the cable bundle more convenient and appealing to young people -- one of Dish's main aims -- may help the mature industry win new subscribers, but it may also hurt smaller cable channels that currently survive on the backs of bigger siblings.

In a press release, Sling TV CEO Roger Lynch depicted the service as a natural step in the Netflixification of television.

"Live television, including ESPN, for $20 per month with no commitment or contract, is a game changer," he asserted.

"The arrival of Sling TV lets consumers, who've embraced services like Netflix and Hulu, take more control of their video entertainment experience."

**Bob Dole** · 04-10-2015, 03:49 PM

Still trying to figure out how Dish gets away with advertising "the same sports" as DTV.

ragedogg69 · 04-11-2015, 02:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KC2004

Can stream HBO on up to 3 Devices.

They need to figure out how to do it with the base package as well. Even when watching WatchESPN, it cuts off the other feed a few seconds later. They need to have a dual watch option for $5 like every other company has.

**DaFace** · 04-11-2015, 07:36 PM

Cancelled DirecTV today, so I'm now officially cable free.

Tablo is installed and running and works pretty well in case anyone's curious. I generally send it through Chromecast, and that interface is a little buggy, but it seems to work. They're previewing a new Roku app that works pretty much like any other guide-based tuner out there. It seems to buffer a lot when starting a live stream, but once it gets going, quality is great. For $5/month for a DVR with ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, CW, and PBS (and a ton of other shit channels I don't care about), I won't complain.

SlingTV's interface leaves something to be desired, but it's functional. You can't really fast forward anything (even on-demand stuff), which is a pain. If they can get it more oriented toward on demand rather than watching live, it'll be great. Until then, I don't get much out of channels that I literally have to watch live. But at least I can watch Game of Thrones without having to pirate it.

Regardless, I was paying roughly $140/month for DirecTV (including HBO), and that number is now more like $55 for Netflix, Hulu, Sling, HBO, and a guide subscription for Tablo. I'll take it. (And I was paying for Netflix and Hulu along with DirecTV anyway.)

Elvus · 04-14-2015, 10:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaFace

Cancelled DirecTV today, so I'm now officially cable free.

Tablo is installed and running and works pretty well in case anyone's curious. I generally send it through Chromecast, and that interface is a little buggy, but it seems to work. They're previewing a new Roku app that works pretty much like any other guide-based tuner out there. It seems to buffer a lot when starting a live stream, but once it gets going, quality is great. For $5/month for a DVR with ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, CW, and PBS (and a ton of other shit channels I don't care about), I won't complain.

SlingTV's interface leaves something to be desired, but it's functional. You can't really fast forward anything (even on-demand stuff), which is a pain. If they can get it more oriented toward on demand rather than watching live, it'll be great. Until then, I don't get much out of channels that I literally have to watch live. But at least I can watch Game of Thrones without having to pirate it.

Regardless, I was paying roughly $140/month for DirecTV (including HBO), and that number is now more like $55 for Netflix, Hulu, Sling, HBO, and a guide subscription for Tablo. I'll take it. (And I was paying for Netflix and Hulu along with DirecTV anyway.)

I ditched Directv a few months ago. Was paying about the same. After the first of the year rate hike, it was up to $125 a month with no premium channels like HBO etc.

I went to the Channel Master OTA DVR. This thing works awesome for OTA recordings. The only drawback so far is it's only 2 tuners. So, record 1 watch one, or record 2 while watching a recorded show. The nicest feature is there is no subscription with this unit, like all of the others have.

I've added Sling TV as well as Netflix. Already had Amazon Prime, just for the free shipping and shopping features, so I don't count it as an additional cost.
My bill went from $125 to $29.
Don't miss the hundreds of channels at all.

Hootie · 04-14-2015, 01:17 PM

I was disappointed with Sling. Such an unreliable feed. Always buffering and my internet is decent. I'm sure they'll figure it out, just pretty buggy at this point. I just had it for the 1 month free trial anyways, though.

**DaFace** · 04-14-2015, 01:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hootie 2.0

I was disappointed with Sling. Such an unreliable feed. Always buffering and my internet is decent. I'm sure they'll figure it out, just pretty buggy at this point. I just had it for the 1 month free trial anyways, though.

I haven't had buffering issues, but the interface is ssllllllooooooowwwwww on Roku. They need to implement some sort of "what's on at a glance" system because it currently takes like 5 minutes to flip through all of the different channels.

**DaFace** · 04-14-2015, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elvus

I ditched Directv a few months ago. Was paying about the same. After the first of the year rate hike, it was up to $125 a month with no premium channels like HBO etc.

I went to the Channel Master OTA DVR. This thing works awesome for OTA recordings. The only drawback so far is it's only 2 tuners. So, record 1 watch one, or record 2 while watching a recorded show. The nicest feature is there is no subscription with this unit, like all of the others have.

I've added Sling TV as well as Netflix. Already had Amazon Prime, just for the free shipping and shopping features, so I don't count it as an additional cost.
My bill went from $125 to $29.
Don't miss the hundreds of channels at all.

I almost forget about Amazon Prime. I technically have that too, but I never use it unless there's (rarely) something on there that's not on Netflix.

SLAG · 04-14-2015, 08:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaFace

I haven't had buffering issues, but the interface is ssllllllooooooowwwwww on Roku. They need to implement some sort of "what's on at a glance" system because it currently takes like 5 minutes to flip through all of the different channels.

FireTV Stick - The experience is butter smooth.

Windows App is crap for Desktop.

Android App is better but still not quite as good as the FireTV Stick.

bowener · 04-14-2015, 08:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KC2004

SlingTV adds HBO. Can stream HBO on up to 3 Devices.

http://www.theverge.com/2015/4/9/837...-now-available

Oh shit. I think it is time I seriously consider this.

WilliamTheIrish · 04-15-2015, 09:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaFace

Cancelled DirecTV today, so I'm now officially cable free.

Tablo is installed and running and works pretty well in case anyone's curious. I generally send it through Chromecast, and that interface is a little buggy, but it seems to work. They're previewing a new Roku app that works pretty much like any other guide-based tuner out there. It seems to buffer a lot when starting a live stream, but once it gets going, quality is great. For $5/month for a DVR with ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, CW, and PBS (and a ton of other shit channels I don't care about), I won't complain.

SlingTV's interface leaves something to be desired, but it's functional. You can't really fast forward anything (even on-demand stuff), which is a pain. If they can get it more oriented toward on demand rather than watching live, it'll be great. Until then, I don't get much out of channels that I literally have to watch live. But at least I can watch Game of Thrones without having to pirate it.

Regardless, I was paying roughly $140/month for DirecTV (including HBO), and that number is now more like $55 for Netflix, Hulu, Sling, HBO, and a guide subscription for Tablo. I'll take it. (And I was paying for Netflix and Hulu along with DirecTV anyway.)

Face, is that 55$ including your internet?

lawrenceRaider · 04-15-2015, 09:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hootie 2.0

I was disappointed with Sling. Such an unreliable feed. Always buffering and my internet is decent. I'm sure they'll figure it out, just pretty buggy at this point. I just had it for the 1 month free trial anyways, though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaFace

I haven't had buffering issues, but the interface is ssllllllooooooowwwwww on Roku. They need to implement some sort of "what's on at a glance" system because it currently takes like 5 minutes to flip through all of the different channels.

The FireTV app recently updated, and I haven't had any issues with the feed or navigation since. It was painful with the feed issues at the beginning.

**DaFace** · 04-15-2015, 10:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WilliamTheIrish

Face, is that 55$ including your internet?

Ha - I wish. No, I pay about that for internet alone. If I'm adding up my full "before" and "after" for everything involved in my setup, it would look something like:

Code:

Before:	
DirecTV		$120
Internet	$55
Hulu		$8
Netflix		$8
		$191
	
After:
Internet	$65
Hulu		$8
Netflix		$8
Tablo		$5
SlingTV		$20
		$106

I'm ignoring HBO, which I only add for a couple months to watch Game of Thrones each year. Also, I'm not listing hard costs to buy things like Roku/Chromecast/FireTV/AppleTV to watch things on or the ~$275 to get a Tablo setup plus an antenna.

WilliamTheIrish · 04-15-2015, 10:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaFace

Ha - I wish. No, I pay about that for internet alone. If I'm adding up my full "before" and "after" for everything involved in my setup, it would look something like:

Code:

Before:	
DirecTV		$120
Internet	$55
Hulu		$8
Netflix		$8
		$191
	
After:
Internet	$65
Hulu		$8
Netflix		$8
Tablo		$5
SlingTV		$20
		$106

I'm ignoring HBO, which I only add for a couple months to watch Game of Thrones each year. Also, I'm not listing hard costs to buy things like Roku/Chromecast/FireTV/AppleTV to watch things on or the ~$275 to get a Tablo setup plus an antenna.

Ok. Still that's significant savings over one or two years.

**DaFace** · 05-17-2015, 08:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaFace

I haven't had buffering issues, but the interface is ssllllllooooooowwwwww on Roku. They need to implement some sort of "what's on at a glance" system because it currently takes like 5 minutes to flip through all of the different channels.

For the record, it is WAY better on the new Roku 2 (and all all Roku 3's). Night and day difference from my old Roku 2 XS.

**BigMeatballDave** · 05-18-2015, 05:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob Dole

Still trying to figure out how Dish gets away with advertising "the same sports" as DTV.

I wondered this, too. And I last saw this ad about 2 weeks ago.

Seems like false advertisement to me.

04-10-2015, 03:49 PM	#91
Bob Dole King Shit of **** Mountain Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Texarkana, Texas Casino cash: $2334497	Still trying to figure out how Dish gets away with advertising "the same sports" as DTV.
Posts: 48,647

04-11-2015, 07:36 PM	#93
DaFace Kind of a mod Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Donkey Land Casino cash: $1776899	Cancelled DirecTV today, so I'm now officially cable free. Tablo is installed and running and works pretty well in case anyone's curious. I generally send it through Chromecast, and that interface is a little buggy, but it seems to work. They're previewing a new Roku app that works pretty much like any other guide-based tuner out there. It seems to buffer a lot when starting a live stream, but once it gets going, quality is great. For $5/month for a DVR with ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, CW, and PBS (and a ton of other shit channels I don't care about), I won't complain. SlingTV's interface leaves something to be desired, but it's functional. You can't really fast forward anything (even on-demand stuff), which is a pain. If they can get it more oriented toward on demand rather than watching live, it'll be great. Until then, I don't get much out of channels that I literally have to watch live. But at least I can watch Game of Thrones without having to pirate it. Regardless, I was paying roughly $140/month for DirecTV (including HBO), and that number is now more like $55 for Netflix, Hulu, Sling, HBO, and a guide subscription for Tablo. I'll take it. (And I was paying for Netflix and Hulu along with DirecTV anyway.)
Posts: 51,947

04-14-2015, 01:17 PM	#95
Hootie Banned Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Dallas, Texas Casino cash: $10004900	I was disappointed with Sling. Such an unreliable feed. Always buffering and my internet is decent. I'm sure they'll figure it out, just pretty buggy at this point. I just had it for the 1 month free trial anyways, though.
Posts: 56,356