With millions of consumers shifting their viewing habits away from live TV to binge watching their favorite shows on demand, the “cord-cutting” trend is really picking up steam. And instead of offering customers what they want — lower monthly fees and more choices — many pay TV providers are simply squeezing the wallets of their existing subscribers who are too lazy (or too busy) to explore other options.
Many TV viewers choose to “cut the cord” completely — cancel their paid TV service and use a combination of antenna for local channels and streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu for movies and premium TV viewing. But some have trouble quitting TV “cold turkey” and may want access to pay TV channels such as ESPN, Syfy, National Geographic, AMC or Discovery Channel. These and many other channels are not available over the air, and are normally only bundled into expensive packages from cable and satellite providers.
Satellite TV provider DISH may have a solution for folks who want a little something extra, without pricey subscriptions. The company continues to provide standard subscription-based TV service over satellite to those customer who prefer the traditional approach. But the company also launched a service called “Sling TV” which delivers live and on-demand TV services to customers over the internet.Currently Sling TV bundles start at about $25/month, which is a whole lot less than what most folks are paying for traditional cable or satellite.
But today the company is launching a totally free streaming option, available for users of Roku streaming media boxes who have not previously tried Sling TV. Starting today, new users of the Sling TV channel on Roku will have the option to “browse as guest.” This gives the viewer access to a selection of TV shows for free, without a subscription, and without having to provide any credit card or billing information. You don’t even have to give them your e-mail address.
Sorry, you won’t get episodes of “Game of Thrones” or “The Walking Dead” for free here, but there are a fair amount of popular shows available including “Shameless,” “The Big Interview with Dan Rather,” “Billions,” “Heartland” and more. There is a catch, though. Some of the series available in “browse as guest” mode only include one episode (“first one’s free, kid”), though some series do offer multiple episodes in guest mode. At the very least, the “browse as guest” option does allow you to try out the Sling TV platform without getting locked into a contract or incurring any monthly fees. And if you like what you see, you can explore some of Sling TV’s paid bundles and a la carte subscription options.
Sling TV also has launched an improved user experience on Roku, with enhanced search and a new binge-watching feature that goes right from one episode to the next within a series without having to go back to a search screen or menu. This is a feature Netflix has offered for quite some time, and is a welcome addition to the Sling TV platform.
For those willing to pony up some cash, Sling TV gives users the option of subscribing to individual premium channels like Showtime or NBA League Pass, without a base subscription. Pay only for the channels you want to watch and don’t worry about paying for ones you don’t. The company also offers channel bundles, starting at $25/month which include many of the popular free and pay TV channels.
The “browse as guest” feature on Roku will be available only to new users at first, but will roll out to all Roku users in the near future.
More information is available on the company’s blog.
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