Streaming is still largely considered to be new but some services are much older than others, and that’s the case with Sling TV. Not only is Sling TV one of the cheapest live TV services around, but it is also one of the longest-running. Of course, a lot has changed since the days when Sling TV first launched.
Sling TV officially launched on February 9, 2015. We have to say officially here as the service was previously available on an invite-only basis. However, it was Feb. 9 when that invite-only status was lifted and the live TV service became available nationwide.
At that time, Sling only offered one main plan, the Sling plan, and it was priced at just $20 per month. This original Sling plan would eventually go on to become the Sling Orange plan we know today, albeit at a much cheaper monthly price and with far fewer channels than what’s currently available.
When the Sling plan originally launched, there wasn’t much in terms of competition at the time and that’s another area that has significantly changed since then. Sony’s PlayStation Vue arrived to market one month after Sling only for that service to close down again on January 30, 2020.
It wasn’t until late 2016 when DirecTV Now launched, which has evolved multiple times since then, with the latest regeneration being DirecTV Stream, and 2017 before Hulu Live TV launched and fuboTV evolved from a soccer streaming service to a live TV service. 2017 was also when YouTube TV first launched, albeit only in select markets.
While it may not be everyone’s favorite live TV streaming service, Sling TV is one of the oldest and has made it through a period of time where other services have launched, closed down, and/or been rebranded.
Eight years on, and in spite of the increased competition, it remains one of the most popular ways to stream live TV over the internet.
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