Sling TV

Sling TV is an American over-the-top internet television service that is owned by the Sling TV LLC subsidiary of Dish Network. Unveiled on January 5, 2015, at the Consumer Electronics Show, the service aims to complement subscription video on demand services for cord cutters, offering a selection of major cable channels that can be streamed through smart TVs, digital media players and apps.

Sling TV is led by CEO Roger Lynch, who formerly served as the executive vice president of advanced technologies for Dish Network. The service's precursor, the ethnic television service DishWorld, was also brought under the auspices of Sling TV LLC and was rebranded as Sling International. Sling TV officially launched on February 9, 2015, after offering the service on an invitation basis in January of that year. As of November 2015, the service has approximately 394,000 subscribers.

History

Dish Network began to trial over-the-top ("OTT") internet TV in 2012 with the launch of DishWorld, a service providing access to over 50 ethnic and international television networks that was initially made available through an app for Roku digital media streamers. In carriage deals struck during 2014 with companies such as A&E Networks, The Walt Disney Company and Scripps Networks Interactive, Dish Network began to acquire rights to distribute their networks as part of an over-the-top television service – a move that served as a stepping stone towards a mainstream OTT offering from the direct broadcast satellite provider.