Sling TV slides onto Samsung TVs
It's the first over-the-top live streaming service for the TV giant.
- Author of the award-winning, NY Times-reviewed nonfiction book The Tetris Effect; Longtime consumer technology expert for CBS Mornings
The Sling TV menu.
Samsung is adding its first built-in, over-the-top streaming service by partnering with Sling TV , Sling announced Tuesday.
Services such as Sling TV, PlayStation Vue, DirecTV Now and others offer live cable TV channels such as CNN and ESPN, but usually require an extra device, like a game console, streaming media stick or Chromecast, to throw it up on your screen.
Not having to use an external box at least saves a few clicks of the remote control, especially during football season, according to Jimshade Chaudhari, vice president of product management at Sling TV. "Integrating Sling TV into select Samsung TVs creates a seamless experience for millions of Samsung customers," he said, "so they can watch their favorite team without the hassle of installing additional equipment, additional remotes or switching inputs."
Adding Sling TV as an app accessed directly from select Samsung Smart TVs "helps simplify live TV for our customers," said Salek Brodsky, vice president of content and services for Samsung Electronics.
The new app is available now on Samsung's 2016 line of Smart TVs, and will be rolled out to more models in the future. Current Sling subscribers can log in through the app, and new customers can sign up directly through the TV app.
Different OTT streaming services offer various combinations of packages, channels and prices, and Sling TV starts at $20 per month. You can find a detailed comparison of the leading streaming services here.