Sling TV said it's taking its multi-stream service out of beta, and will add NBCUniversal channels, including NBC owned and operated stations, to the base $25-a-month package.
Meanwhile, codifying its base tiers, the multi-stream platform will now be known as "Sling Blue," while the original single-stream service will be called "Sling Orange."
Sling Blue subscribers will have access to more than 40 channels, including NBCU cable networks USA, Bravo, Syfy and NBC Sports. Users in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas, Washington, D.C., Hartford and San Diego, meanwhile, will have NBC broadcast network access through their local O&O.
NBCU channels E!, CNBC, MSNBC, Oxygen, Golf and NBCUniverso will be available through $5-a-month add-on packages.
Fox networks, including FOX Broadcasting in major markets, were already integrated into the Sling Blue package in beta. ABC is available as an add-on, giving users access to three of the four major broadcast networks.
Sling Blue allows subscribing residences to access the service on three devices simultaneously. The older Sling Orange has ESPN, ESPN 2 and the Disney Channel — not found on the Blue service. For those who wish to combine the services, the Dish Network-operated (NASDAQ: DISH) service is discounting the combined price by $5, to $40 a month.
Dish has made its IP-based video platform a priority in program licensing negotiations as it looks to head off competition from rival live-streaming service Sony PlayStation Vue, as well as new streaming pay-TV services emerging from DirecTV (NYSE: T) and Hulu.
Bloomberg quoted sources close to Sony's Vue this week saying that the service is up to around 100,000 subscribers, while Sling TV has amassed a customer base of nearly 700,000 users.
For more:
- read this Sling TV blog post
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A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Sling Blue doesn't include AMC and TNT.