DISH Networks‘ (NASDAQ: DISH) Sling TV beat all other live-television streaming services to market, but now, it’s facing competition from Sony (NYSE: SNE), and more rivals are soon to come.
Sling TV has a fairly simple proposition at its core. It offers roughly 20 live-streaming cable channels for $20 a month. There are add-on packs with more channels, and users can also spring for premium services like HBO, but at its core, Sling TV is a “skinny bundle,” while Sony offers a pricier, more cable-like package of channels.
One of the challenges for Sling customers has been that the service is primarily a live one. While it includes some on-demand programming, mostly it’s a product where if you miss a show, you have missed it. That’s not always a deal breaker, but it is a mark against Sling when consumers weigh it against more traditional cable offerings.
DISH has certainly not entirely solved that problem (and it’s unlikely to any time soon, given its contracts with its various partner channels) but for a select group of users, it offers the beginnings of an answer. The company has begun a beta test with Roku to offer a cloud DVR.
What is Sling doing?
The live-streaming service is letting customers using Roku streaming devices or its Roku TVs request an invitation to the beta program. Beginning in December, the test may ultimately spread to other devices, the company said in a press release.
“Unlike other OTT services, we’re delivering a true cloud DVR with no 28-day restriction on your recordings, marking another win for Sling TV and our customers,” said Sling TV CEO Roger Lynch “Two years ago we became the first live OTT provider, and we continue to innovate and bring the best experience to our customers.”
Why is this important?
Lynch’s boasting aside, the reason some consumers hesitate to switch to Sling is the fact that the services don’t offer some features that have become common in most television packages. Sony’s service has a DVR, and even at its higher price, that could give it an edge over DISH’s service.
A DVR is no longer an exotic luxury; it’s something most people have and it’s how a lot of us consume much of our television. If DISH can offer a cloud DVR — even for an add-on price — it should be able to win over more customers. That’s especially true given that it has a lower starting price than Sony’s service, making it seem more like a cord-cutting choice, while PlayStation Vue feels more like traditional cable delivered over the internet.
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