Sling Television will be coming to the Xbox One in early 2015. It will also come to Xbox One first before other consoles. Sling Television is a service provided by DISH and is a video on demand streaming app. Sling Television will include ESPN, ESPN2, TNT, TBS, Food Network, HGTV, Cartoon Network and Disney Channel. This is a continuation of the Xbox One’s premiere goal of being the one console to bring games and video entertainment together. While initially the reaction was negative Xbox One has continued to include video options with HBO Go, Vevo, Encore Play and Crunchyroll. Microsoft has also pushed original content such as the recent Halo Nightfall which chronicles the early days of Spartan Locke, who will take center stage in Halo 5 Guardians along with Master Chief. Sling Television will cost $20 per month for Xbox One users. Sling Television has no contract, credit check or hardware installation, you can cancel your subscription at anytime. No long term subscription options are currently available. Additionally Xbox Live members will get an extended free trial at launch.
Vice President of Sling Television, Bassil El-Khatib, gave a statement to accompany the announcement, “We created the live Internet TV service for millennial consumers underserved by the pay-TV industry. One of the keys to reaching this audience is being on the devices they use, and we know millions of consumers are turning on their Xbox every day to access content they love.” There is no release date yet, with a broad release time given as “early 2015.” Sling Television was announced today at CES in Las Vegas, Nevada. The application will also be available on Roku, PCs, Amazon Fire TV, iOS and Android devices. The service targets millennials who don’t want to pay for cable television. Having ESPN is a big draw since no other video on demand service offers it on consoles.