Outstanding news: There is yet one more free, ad-supported destination to stream the Pet Collective on television.
With the free ad-supported streaming (FAST) industry collectively predicted to bring in around $16 billion this year, according to TVRev, Dish Network streaming unit Sling TV announced last week an expansion of its FAST ambitions.
"Sling Freestream" will build on the existing Sling Free, upping its payload to more than 210 channels and 4,100 on-demand titles.
Freestream is available now on Roku using the Sling TV app, home to the Sling TV virtual pay TV service. Sling says Freestream is also rolling out on "Comcast, LG, Samsung, Vizio and Xbox devices."
Unlike the superseded Sling Free, which offered around 150 channels, users don't even need to do a free registration process to use the FAST.
As for Freestream's live linear channels, they're largely the same ones you see on Roku Channel, Pluto TV and countless other freely available FASTs -- Cheddar News, ABC News Live, Buzzr, FailArmy, FilmRise, Hell's Kitchen, The Walking Dead Universe ... and yes, Pet Collective.
Freestream also has a "channels" component that lets users sign up for premium subscription services, including AMC Plus, Discovery Plus and MGM Plus.
Again, Sling Freestream is but one of many apps that offer wholesale access to premium streaming services, which like free channels Pet Detective and Fail Army, are happy to be discovered on as many platforms as they can be.
As for Dish and Sling TV, it's difficult to make noise amid the increasingly crowded -- and homogenous -- FAST market, but they've already proliferated the Sling TV app across the connected TV universe, and they've already negotiated rights deals with most of the major entertainment companies, so why not play the FAST game a little harder?
It's not like Sling TV's core vMVPD business is going gangbusters. Dish just reported that Sling TV lost 77,000 more customers in the fourth quarter, with the 8-year-old service ending 2022 with 2.334 million customers -- 152,000 less than where it stood at the end of 2021.
With Sling TV just raising vMVPD prices across its two tiers to the $40-a-month mark, growth prospects entering 2023 don't look explosive.
"We know some people want free content, some may want a year-round paid subscription, while others may want to subscribe for certain events or shows. We have coupled world-class content with the option to easily flex in and out of premium pay TV, creating a one-of-a-kind entertainment experience," said Gary Schanman, group president of Sling TV, in a statement.
