Sling TV announced Thursday that it has launched its cloud DVR beta program with a select group of subs that stream the service on Roku players and integrated Roku TVs.
Sling TV didn’t announce how many subs are participating in this phase of the trial, but those who were selected will receive an email as early as today with additional opt-in instructions, Ben Weinberger, Sling TV’s chief product officer, explained in this blog post.
Sling TV is kicking off the trial as the OTT TV service faces more competition from DirecTV Now and fuboTV, which both have cloud DVRs on their respective roadmaps. Hulu is also developing a virtual MVPD service but has not announced if a DVR will be part of the offering. Comcast offers a cloud DVR for its X1 service. PlayStation Vue’s cloud DVR offers unlimited recordings, though customers must watch a TV show or movie within 28 days after it is recorded.
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Sling TV announced the beta program in late November. At launch, beta participants will have access to 100 hours of cloud DVR storage at no added charge, and the ability to record multiple programs concurrently. Sling TV confirmed earlier that some channels, including ABC, Disney and ESPN networks, will not support the cloud DVR, though it is working toward enabling it for all programming offered on the service.
“We’re not able to grant everyone who requested a beta account immediate access, but don’t worry, we’ll continue to add users throughout the duration of the program,” Weinberger said, directing subs to this web site to register for future phases of the cloud DVR test.
Sling TV said earlier that it plans to roll out the cloud DVR trial to additional devices/platforms in the “coming months,” and that it is working on other features, including a way for customers to upgrade their cloud DVR storage and to protect recordings.
