![]() That increased when we used the service on a 2.5-Mbps DSL connection, but we were impressed to find that, once a channel buffered, we were usually able to watch interruption free on that DSL line. Even with a 15-Mbps broadband connection (ample for HD streaming), we generally experienced five-second buffering delays when changing from one Sling TV channel to another. You probably will notice a lag when you change channels. After all, how often are you watching the same TV program from two different sources at once? But it does raise the curious possibility that while you're watching a big basketball game on ESPN you could hear raucous cheering from your neighbors' house only to discover- two minutes later-that the fuss was abut a mind-blowing, buzzer-beating, game-winning three-pointer. Truth be told, most subscribers to Sling TV would never notice the delay. We expect the perceived delay will be significantly reduced over time." Since Sling TV is a new service, we have chosen to be conservative in our signal delay to allow for congestion or other potential Internet propagation delays. They all have delay from the time of content was captured and produced to the time a viewer sees the signal. "Television signals of all types are never truly live. We asked the Sling TV spokesperson about the delay, and got this explanation: We even tried it at the home of a staff editor who subscribes to Dish Network's satellite service and found Sling TV to be running about a minute behind the company's own feed from space. Side by side, we found that Sling TV was running one to two minutes behind the programming on Optimum cable. The most striking difference we saw between the cable and Sling TV feeds was one of latency. The organizational logic makes a lot more sense than assigning arbitrary numbers to channels, but its difficult to know how it would scale beyond the dozen or so channels currently on Sling TV. On Sling TV, channels have no number and instead are grouped by type (Sports, Family, News, etc.). Navigating Sling TV is a bit of a departure from the standard-issue cable and satellite service numerical channel guide. We also wanted to try it on an Amazon Fire TV, but the apps for Amazon devices weren't ready during our trial. We tried Sling TV on a Roku 3, an iPad 2 and an iPad mini. If you want to watch Sling TV on your television, you might need to spend $40 to $100 for a streaming media player, but that's still a significant savings over the multiyear cost of a DVR or a cable box. It should also work on Android and Apple iOS devices. At launch, Sling TV should work with streaming media players from Amazon and Roku as well as with the Xbox One, Google Nexus Player, and smart TVs from LG and Samsung. Like many other streaming video services, Sling TV works through an app that you can install on multiple devices. No launch date for Sling TV has been announced, but the company assured us it's coming soon. Premium channels, such as HBO, Cinemax, and Showtime, are also unavailable on Sling TV. ![]() Sling TV doesn't include any of the broadcast networks, so you'll need to hook an antenna up to your TV to get ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC. Sling TV is the closest service yet to à-la-carte cable television. ![]() ![]() This $30-a-month package is incredibly tempting for anyone who's ever wondered why they're paying $50 and up (plus a monthly fee for a cable box) to get hundreds of channels when they watch only a few regularly. We tried the full suite of channels, which includes Sling TV's two $5-per-month add-ons: Kids Extra (Baby TV, Boomerang Disney Junior, Disney XD, and Duck TV) and News & Info Extra (Bloomberg, Cooking Channel, DIY, and HLN). The basic Sling TV package has 12 channels, including Cartoon Network, CNN, Disney Channel, ESPN and ESPN2, Food Network, TBS, and TNT-a cleverly designed list of some of the most popular basic-cable channels. ![]()
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