Sling TV Adds 9 Discovery Networks to Streaming Programming – Variety



[ad_1]

Sling TV, Dish Network's Internet TV service, has added nine Discovery networks to its national and Spanish-language services, as well as several thousand VOD titles.

At the same time, Sling TV customers still do not have access to Univision or HBO, despite ongoing contractual disputes between Dish and programmers. By the end of September, Dish had a total of 2.37 million subscribers to Sling TV, but the absence of Univision and HBO threatens to hinder its growth in the short term.

With the launch of Discovery Networks on Sling TV, prices remain unchanged. The over-the-top service offers two packages: the single-stream Orange Sling, which includes the Disney and ESPN networks; and the Sling Blue multistream, which includes the NBC and Fox networks, priced at $ 25 per month each, or $ 40 per month if purchased together.

Starting Wednesday, November 28, Sling Blue now includes Discovery Channel, Investigation Discovery (ID) and TLC; the Sling Orange package includes ID and MotorTrend (formerly Velocity).

Discovery's American Heroes and Destination America channels are now available in the Heartland Extra supplement ($ 5 more per month); Science Channel is now available in the News Extra addition (also $ 5 a month). Discovery en Español and Discovery Familia are now available in Sling TV's list of best Spanish TV shows ($ 10 / month standalone or $ 5 per month extra).

"We are excited to add Discovery Networks to Sling TV's lineup of channels as they offer high-demand channels offering immersive programs for all age groups," said Warren Schlichting, president of Sling TV, in a statement.

Current customers subscribed to Sling TV and / or eligible additional offers will automatically see Discovery Networks in their channel guide.

For the third quarter of 2018, Dish recorded its largest quarterly net loss to subscribers so far: sequentially dropping 367,000 satellite TV customers while earning only 26,000 Sling TV subscribers. Dish's president and CEO, Erik Carlson, told analysts that nearly half of Dish TV's subscriber losses in the third quarter were related to the removal of Univision programming, which was removed from the list on June 30.

Charlie Ergen, head of Dish, said during the company's call regarding the company's November 7 results that his group was losing HBO, which would result in the loss of Dish and Sling TV customers in the fourth quarter. He blamed AT & T for using HBO as an "economic weapon" to extract Dish's unreasonable economic conditions. HBO director Richard Plepler called Ergen's comments "a stupid but transparent attempt by Dish to blur the trail for reasons they can not explain."

Sling TV offers programming from Disney / ESPN (in the Sling Orange group), Fox, NBC and NFL Network (in Sling Blue), as well as networks of partners such as AMC, A + E networks, Scripps, Turner, Viacom, GSN, Hallmark. Showtime, Starz and Epix Sling brought the Orange package price from $ 20 to $ 25 a month this summer.

Photo above: Discovery Channel Shark Week

[ad_2]
Source link