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| Cable Television without contract! |
I must admit. I was once a cable junkie. Coming home and heading towards the couch for hours upon hours of remote clicking was pretty standard. On most typical nights, I'd stick to a set group of channels that were my standard fare and ignore most all other channels that were included in my cable package. Month after month, the cable company would charge me for channels I cared nothing for and most people, myself included, hate that. The time's though; they are a'changin.
For the better part of the last decade the growing movement for ala carte programming has turned from a small chirp in the industry to a roar of the masses. We no longer live in an era where cable providers nor production companies control all modes of delivering quality programming. Services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu and even YouTube are all providing original content that's not only great content, but affordable instant content. By God, as an American, if I feel the need or the desire to watch the newest episode of Arrow at 3:15am and then marathon a single season of my favorite series before sunrise; that's my irresponsible and unwise right to do so. Let no cable company stand in my way.
The old regime of cable and satelite television providers are starting to wake up to this. Many a consumer has already given up cable all together. According to Huffington Post, the 3rd quarter of 2014 saw the industry as a whole loss approximately 150,000 total subscribers vs approximately 25,000 for the same quarter the year before. Many of us are either tired of paying for content we wish not to see or wish not to use. Or we can't justify the expense of a service that keeps raising rates for that content. Alas, Dish Network has stepped up to the plate to give consumers a third option. Sling TV is just the beginning.
If you are person without cable, with high speed internet and like base channels like ESPN, HGTV, Food Network, AMC, CNN, Disney Channel, ABC Family, TBS, TNT and a few other channels and can afford $20.00 a month, Sling TV might be for you. Over the last week I have tested the service and I'm here to tell you what you can expect. Lets start with the good and venture into the bad.
The Good
Expense: The service is in theory very affordable. Let's consider this. Most of us order out pizza at least once a month. We gorge ourselves on large quantities of below average pizza at above average prices as the delivery fee and the tip are included. I'd much rather have this service and trade one of my pizza nights to be able to watch ESPN, AMC and Food Network on a monthly basis. Admit it, you can afford $20 a month.
Devices: Right out of the gate, Sling TV is available on multiple different platforms. Amazon Fire, Roku, ios, Android, PC and Mac are all supported. Nexus Player and Xbox One are in the works and should be available soon.
Stream Quality: Sling allows for the customer to adjust the stream quality as a settings feature. You can choose an unlimited bandwidth, 1.5mbps, 800kbp and 500kbps. Depending on your internet provider and speed, you will definately see variations in image quality depending on your set up. I'm with Charter with a 30mbps feed and on average, even including the early launch bugs and connection issues, the quality of the stream is fluid and very clear using the unlimited bandwidth setting. After experimenting with the bandwidth settings, if you need to use a low bandwidth 500kbps, you're probably not going to be happy.
Expandability: At launch, the base service includes the channels mentioned above with a few other lesser known channels that may or may not perk your interest. However, Sling does allow you to expand your channel selection by selecting the Sports Extra package that includes ESPNU, SEC Network, ESPNEWS and other various channels for an additional five dollars. If you have kids and need more kidcentric programming, the Kids Extra package includes Disney Junior, DisneyXD, Boomerang, BAbtv and Ducktv. Last but not least. If you're similar to me and like your news they have a News & Info Extra package that includes HLN, Cooking Channel, DiY Network and Bloomberg. At launch, Sling has a decent channel selection. Although I'd like to see the channel selection expand, it's a very good start.
Free Devices: Currently if you pay for three months of service you can take advantage of free devices such as the Amazon Fire Stick and the Roku Stick. Both devices plug into the back of your hdtv and provide great functionality; basically turning your tv into a smart tv.
The Bad
I wont break down the bad into categories because really, the bad might not apply to most other people. Being a big fan of Chromecast, I found it displeasing to see that chromecast support is currently not available. It's my hope that in the near future this functionality will be available with the Sling Television service because well, I love my chromecast.
The service doesn't include local cable channels either. Although complicated, that would have been an amazing function to have included with the service. Perhaps in the future they can find a way to make that happen so you don't have to switch your video input to your antennae.
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