Sling TV adds NBC, and may be rounding into a true cable TV killer

Sling TV, the cord-cutter’s answer to watching traditional TV, has diversified its lineup a bit. You can now choose from two different base offerings before adding on premium content, and enjoy NBC.

Two packages — Sling Orange and Sling Blue — now serve as your base packages, and are fairly unique. Orange is for ‘single streaming,’ and keeps the $20 per month price tag. It also keeps the same core channel lineup as before, but adds BBC America and BBC World News.

Sling Blue is for ‘multi-stream’ use, and packages NBC, USA, Bravo, Syfy, BBC America and BBC World News for $25 per month.

While the channel lineup is obviously attention-grabbing, how you stream is also something to think about. Orange only lets you stream to one device at a time, while Blue lets you play different content across many devices.

Is Sling still a deal?

Beneficially, packaging Orange and Blue gets you a $5 per month discount: you’ll only pay $40, and can enjoy multi-streaming on various TVs and mobile devices.

Sling has also added NBC, which joins Fox as the only major networks willing to break from tradition. While CBS and ABC both offer standalone apps, Sling TV is a much more approachable medium for most users (ABC can be had via an add-on package for Sling, but it’s considered ‘basic’ TV by most).

Add-ons for Sling aren’t expensive, but can add up. If you were to grab every option available to you, it’s easy to start flirting with $100 per month for TV service. $20 of that is Spanish-language programming add-ons, so if that doesn’t interest you, it won’t cost quite as much.

Add-ons are also cleverly packaged. Sling has done a good job of identifying which channels may fit a viewer’s interests, so spending an additional $5 or so each month will likely get you exactly what you want.

Similarly, the HBO package brings you live content in addition to on-demand content. I’m having a hard time finding missing content when comparing it to HBO Now, too. It’s like the best of both worlds.

The lone downside is that Sling is very sensitive to your internet connection. I’ve got really solid bandwidth, and it still stutters often enough to be noticeable. Still, it’s better than cable contracts in my view.

Both Sling Orange and Blue are available now, so check them out on Sling’s Website.