UPDATED 17:24 EST / JANUARY 05 2015

Dish Network’s Sling TV streams all the best cable channels, including ESPN, for $20 a month

Dish's Sling TV streams all the best cable channels, including ESPN, for $20 a month.Dish Network just solidified its role as the premier unCable provider. Sure, other cable providers have attempted to court the convenience-focused millennial generation. Comcast, for example, began allowing some of its customers to stream and download DVR saved content to their tablets and smartphones last year. Those features all required customers to remain cable subscribers. That’s about to change. Dish Network’s Sling TV will provide live premium cable television content to non cable subscribers. This is big.

Americans are increasingly “cutting the cord” and cancelling their cable subscriptions in favor of online streaming options like Netflix and Hulu Plus. Close to 10 million U.S. households are currently broadband-only. Sling TV makes cutting the cord that much easier. For only $20 a month, Sling TV lets you live stream content from premium cable networks. You can watch the Disney Channel, ABC Family, Food Network, HGTV, Travel Channel, TNT, CNN, TBS, Cartoon Network, and Adult Swim. ESPN and ESPN2, the content packages that have been one of the main reasons many customers have continued to pay for cable and satellite TV, are also available to cord cutters who sign up for Sling TV. Sports enthusiasts no longer have to pay for expensive cable bundles when all they really want access to are live sports events.

Sling TV doesn’t have all the bells and whistles that cable subscribers are accustomed to. There’s no DVR functionality. You can watch as many shows as you want from any of the available channels, but you’ll have to watch them live. You won’t be able to watch any local channels on Sling TV. The good news there is that you can watch your local channels in HD for free with an inexpensive digital tv antenna. Unlike Netflix, which lets multiple users watch different shows at the same time using a single account, Sling TV only allows one stream at a time.

Sling TV will be available in the coming weeks on multiple platforms. Customers will be able to access Sling TV content via the Xbox One, and other game consoles, on Amazon’s Fire TV and Fire TV Stick, on Roku devices, and on Android and iOS phones and tablets. The service doesn’t require a commitment, so customers can cancel or resume service at any time. Sling TV is an exciting product that will make cutting the cord more convenient than its ever been before.

photo credit: pennstatenews via photopin cc

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