Sling TV has announced a new promotion that will make its 50-plus channel $30-a-month Sling Blue service available for free from 5 p.m. - midnight each day.
For the Dish Network-owned virtual pay TV service, the promo is the latest attempt to lure in viewership amid the huge ongoing sheltering-in-place viewing spike. Sling TV also made its Blue tier free to anyone with a viewing device an email address during late-March and early April.
Dish just confirmed layoff plans Monday, and the vMVPD business Sling TV is in isn't so profitable even when customers are paying the full freight. But with almost every research metric pointing to huge increases this year in streaming viewership, the time to build a base and get to scale may have arrived.
Sling TV lost 94,000 subscribers in the fourth quarter—it’s first reported customer loss—and it could use momentum. Company reps reported an “increase in signups” amid what it generically called its “14-day quarantine offer,” but they didn’t get specific.
It must have moved the needle at least a little, because Sling TV is doing it again, this time branding the promotion as “Happy Hour Across America.”
"Since we can't serve you a beverage or basket of hot wings, we're introducing a new kind of happy hour—TV 'on the house' every night," said Warren Schlichting, group president of Sling TV, in a statement. "Much like a real happy hour, TV is often a shared experience. So grab your favorite refreshment, tune in with your friends and family, and get those group chats ready."
