History of Sling TV in Timeline

Sling TV is a streaming television service launched in 2015 by Sling TV LLC, a subsidiary of EchoStar. Designed for cord-cutters, it offers a selection of major cable channels and over-the-top (OTT) content streamed via smart TVs, media players, and apps. The service is available in the United States and Puerto Rico.

2012: Dish Network Trials OTT Service

In 2012, Dish Network began to trial run an over-the-top ("OTT") internet television provider with the launch of DishWorld, a service which provided access to over 50 ethnic and international television networks.

November 2014: Dish Network Plans OTT Service

In November 2014, Dish Network chairman Charlie Ergen explained that the company planned to launch its OTT service by the end of that year and was aiming for the package to retail for around $30 per month.

January 5, 2015: Sling TV Unveiled at Consumer Electronics Show

On January 5, 2015, Sling TV was unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show. The American streaming television service aimed to complement subscription video on demand services for cord cutters, offering a selection of major cable channels and OTT-originated services.

February 9, 2015: Sling TV Formally Launches

On February 9, 2015, Sling TV formally launched after an invitation-only beta launch that began in January of that year. Sling TV LLC also brought DishWorld under its auspices and rebranded it as Sling International.

April 1, 2015: Dish Announces HBO Addition to Sling TV

On April 1, 2015, Dish announced that it would add HBO to Sling TV as an add-on pack, as part of a wide-ranging deal between Dish Network and Time Warner that included the renewal of its carriage agreement for the Turner Broadcasting System's cable channels.

April 4, 2015: Sling TV Outages During NCAA Final Four Game

On April 4, 2015, some Sling TV users experienced brief outages that prevented them from streaming portions of TBS' coverage of an NCAA Final Four game between the Duke Blue Devils and Michigan State Spartans. This prompted criticism of the service's technical issues on social media.

April 6, 2015: Sling TV Addresses Outages During NCAA Final Four Game

On April 6, 2015, Sling TV stated that the outages experienced on April 4, which affected between 1,000 and 2,000 users, were caused by network server failures due to high subscriber traffic. The company rebalanced traffic loads to improve the experience and planned to upgrade its software to automatically switch to a backup provider during streaming demand spikes.

April 9, 2015: Sling TV Adds HBO

On April 9, 2015, Sling added HBO as an add-on pack, which consists of the east and west coast feeds of the primary linear channel, and allows on-demand access to HBO's programming content.

June 4, 2015: Sling Latino Service Introduced

On June 4, 2015, the Sling Latino service was introduced, featuring two add-on Spanish-language programming tiers, "Paquete Total" and "Paquete Esencial," with additional add-on packs available.

July 2015: Sling TV Accuses NBC of Refusing Advertising

In July 2015, Sling TV accused NBC Owned Television Stations, a division of Comcast's NBCUniversal, of refusing to air advertising for Sling TV on NBC owned-and-operated stations in major markets. CEO Roger Lynch suggested this was a form of protectionism by Comcast.

November 19, 2015: Blockbuster On Demand Migrates Exclusively to Sling TV

On November 19, 2015, Blockbuster LLC migrated the Blockbuster On Demand VOD service exclusively to Sling TV. Consequently, Blockbuster and Dish Network began redirecting Dish customers to switch to Sling in order to continue accessing its film content.

2015: Sling TV Wins CES "Best in Show"

In 2015, Sling TV was awarded "Best Home Theater Product", "Best Software/App", and "Best in Show" at CES by Engadget. The awards recognized its clear goal, pricing, user-friendly interface, and potential to disrupt traditional pay TV in the United States.

January 5, 2016: Sling TV App Added to Channel Master DVR+ Products

On January 5, 2016, Channel Master integrated a Sling TV app into its DVR+ products through a firmware update. This allowed users to access Sling content via the device's channel guide. However, due to digital distribution rights, recording Sling TV content was not possible for Channel Master users.

April 13, 2016: Sling TV Introduces Multi-Stream Package

On April 13, 2016, Sling TV introduced a "multi-stream" package, which allows the ability for up to three users to stream different channels through a single subscription account.

June 30, 2016: Sling TV Restructures Programming Tiers

On June 30, 2016, Sling restructured its programming tiers, redesignating the "Best of Live TV" single-stream tier as "Sling Orange" and the multi-stream package as "Sling Blue".

September 8, 2016: Sling TV Adds Starz and Pac-12 Networks

On September 8, 2016, Sling TV began carrying Starz as a premium add-on and added the six regional Pac-12 Networks to its "Sports Extra" tiers. The rollout of Starz was commemorated with a seven-day free preview of the Starz package to existing subscribers.

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October 2016: Sling TV Lacks Certain Channels

As of October 2016, Sling TV does not carry CBS, Telemundo, affiliates of The CW and MyNetworkTV, member stations of PBS and its affiliated networks, and most independent stations.

October 2016: Sling TV Adds Six Additional Channels

During October 2016, Sling TV added six additional channels to its lineup: Game Show Network, AXS TV, HDNet Movies, NHL Network, Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries.

December 15, 2016: Sling TV Cloud DVR Beta Testing

On December 15, 2016, Sling TV initiated invitation-only beta testing for a cloud DVR feature, enabling subscribers to record programs from select channels. Initially, this was available to Roku users, offering 100 hours of storage, simultaneous recording, and automatic deletion of watched content when full. The DVR service later expanded to other devices.

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February 22, 2017: Dish Network CEO Views Sling TV as Direct Replacement for Cable and Satellite

On February 22, 2017, Dish Network CEO Charlie Ergen said that although it was positioned as a complementary service, he considered Sling TV now to be "a direct replacement for cable and satellite."

April 2, 2017: Comcast SportsNet Channels Added

On April 2, 2017, Comcast SportsNet California, Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, Comcast SportsNet Chicago and Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic were added to Sling TV.

April 2017: Sling Adds Showtime as Add-on Pack

In April 2017, Sling began offering Showtime as an add-on pack, making it the first over-the-top MVPD streaming service to offer all five major premium networks: HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, Starz and Epix.

May 2017: Maker and Polaris TV Removed

In May 2017, Maker and Polaris TV were removed from Sling TV.

June 14, 2017: El Rey Network Moves to Comedy Extra Add-on

On June 14, 2017, Sling TV moved the El Rey Network from the Orange package to the Comedy Extra add-on.

March 29, 2019: Sling TV Adds MLB Network and MLB Strike Zone

On March 29, 2019, Sling TV added MLB Network and MLB Strike Zone to its "Sports Extra" package.

July 24, 2019: Sling TV Removes Fox Sports Networks

On July 24, 2019, Sling TV and Dish Network removed the regional Fox Sports Networks due to a disagreement with Sinclair Broadcast Group.

December 2019: Sling TV provides 10 hours of recording time to all customers

In December 2019, Sling TV provided all customers with 10 hours of recording time, with an option to upgrade to 50 hours. However, some channels like SEC Network+, Local Now and ACC Network Extra, could not be recorded due to contractual limitations.

September 2020: Sling TV Announces Sling Watch Party

In September 2020, Sling TV introduced Sling Watch Party, a co-viewing feature allowing simultaneous viewing of live TV by people in different locations. The implementation uniquely featured text and video chat alongside live TV. Guests could initially join via free Sling TV accounts.

September 30, 2020: End of Free Sling TV Account Access for Sling Watch Party

September 30, 2020, marked the end of the beta period for Sling TV's Watch Party feature, which had allowed guests to join through free Sling TV accounts. The free access was discontinued after this date.

January 2021: Sling TV upgraded all customers to 50 hours recording time

In January 2021, Sling TV upgraded all customers to 50 hours of recording time and upped the paid add-on to 200 hours, with unlimited length of time to keep. This upgrade coincided with a price increase for new subscribers.

February 2021: Sling Adds Local Stations from Locast

In February 2021, Sling added local stations to its guide from Locast in the 36 markets where that service is available.

September 2021: Locast Service Discontinued

As of September 2021, Locast service has been discontinued, following a lawsuit held against them by broadcasting organizations.

February 2023: Sling Free Becomes Sling Freestream

In February 2023, Sling TV renamed its free, ad-supported service from "Sling Free" to "Sling Freestream". The plan included offering users over 210 channels and more than 41,000 on demand titles, with a future goal of over 400 channels. It became available on LG, Samsung, and Vizio smart TVs.

February 2023: Free Portion of Sling Renamed Sling Freestream

In February 2023, the free portion of Sling was renamed "Sling Freestream." The plan was to offer users over 210 channels and more than 41,000 on demand titles.

November 2023: Sling TV Subscribers

In November 2023, Sling TV had 2.12 million subscribers.

December 2024: Sling Announces Price Increase

In December 2024, Sling announced they would be increasing their prices by $6/month for the first time in almost 2 years, on their Orange and Blue base packages.

January 2025: Sling TV Subscribers

In January 2025, Sling TV had 2.09 million subscribers.

May 2025: Sling TV Subscribers

As of May 2025, Sling TV has a total of 1.89 million subscribers.

June 6, 2025: EchoStar Corporation Preparing to File for Bankruptcy

On June 6, 2025, it was reported that parent company EchoStar Corporation was preparing to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) suspended EchoStar's ability to plan out strategic decisions for its Boost Mobile subsidiary.