Sling TV Launches New Multi-Stream Version With Fox Channels
April 13 2016 - 9:03AM
Dow Jones News
By Shalini Ramachandran
Dish Network Corp. unveiled a new $20-a-month version of its
Sling TV streaming service that will include channels from 21st
Century Fox for the first time, setting up a more robust competitor
to traditional pay TV.
The new package, which launched Wednesday in beta, will allow
for three simultaneous streams on different devices in hopes of
better catering to families with multiple viewers. It will be
anchored by Fox channels like FX, Fox's regional sports networks
and the Fox broadcast network in select markets initially, with
more affiliates to be signed up over time. It will also have
on-demand programming from shows like "Empire" as well as the full
library of "The Simpsons."
Sling TV was first introduced more than a year ago as a skinny
bundle of select channels, touted as a cheaper option for consumers
without traditional pay-TV subscriptions who still want some live
TV. The new Fox-anchored package with multiple streams is separate
from the original basic version of Sling that included channels
from Walt Disney Co. but only allows one stream at a time.
Several other big programmers that are in the single-stream
service will also be part of the multi-stream offering, including
AMC Networks Inc., A&E Networks, Time Warner Inc.'s HBO and
Turner channels, Scripps Networks Interactive Inc., EPIX and
Univision Communications.
The main catch to the new option? No channels from Disney.
That's in contrast to the other version of Sling TV that Dish
has been peddling for more than a year now, which has at its core
Disney-owned channels like ESPN but only allows one stream at a
time. Dish will continue to sell that $20-a-month option to
customers, but it will remain devoid of Fox channels. People can
buy both options if they want.
The new option may be attractive to local sports fans and NFL
lovers, since it'll include Fox channels like YES Network, which
airs the Yankees; Fox Sports 1; as well as the Fox broadcast
network, which airs a big lineup of NFL games. Fox noted that Sling
TV also now offers a streaming alternative for Comcast Corp.
subscribers, who haven't been able to watch YES for months amid a
carriage dispute in the Northeast.
But the new package won't be a complete sports solution since
Disney's ESPN resides in the other version of Sling TV.
Additionally, two major media companies with big sports properties,
CBS Corp. and Comcast's NBCUniversal, still haven't done deals with
either version of Sling TV.
The two different Sling TV packages set up a "Hunger Games" of
streaming, pitting Disney against Fox. Fox had long resisted
signing on to Sling TV because it was insisting on carriage of all
its networks, including its regional sports channels, while Sling
TV had wanted to keep its package slim and affordable. Fox
executives were also not thrilled about how Sling TV relegated
broadcast networks like ABC and Univision to a premium add-on tier,
as opposed to keeping them in the basic package.
Disney, on the other hand, had been fine with Sling TV carrying
just its few main channels -- ESPN, ESPN 2, ABC, Disney Channel and
Freeform -- because it makes the majority of its carriage fees from
those channels. It had been loath to grant Dish "multi-stream"
rights, however, for fear of risking cannibalizing the lucrative
pay-TV business, according to people familiar with its
thinking.
It had even negotiated the right to terminate its deal if Sling
TV attracted more than two million subscribers, among other
conditions, The Wall Street Journal previously reported. In
February, the Journal reported that Sling TV had more than 600,000
subscribers.
For now, Disney's and Fox's channels will be separate packages
through Sling TV. Eventually bringing Disney's networks into the
multi-stream offering would most certainly shrink Sling TV's profit
margin if it were to maintain its $20 price. Dish is likely to seek
to bring Disney into the multi-stream offering, a person familiar
with the matter said, though it is unclear if Disney even wants to
be on it.
Write to Shalini Ramachandran at
shalini.ramachandran@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 13, 2016 08:48 ET (12:48 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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