Sling TV will have HBO before 'Game of Thrones' premieres
Add another one to the slate of Sling TV options: subscribers to the streaming TV service will be able to get HBO soon. There's no word on an exact launch date, but Sling says it will be in time for the new season of Game of Thrones and Silicon Valley, which launch on April 12th. It's not the (still Apple-exclusive for online providers) HBO Now service, it's just regular HBO, with one live channel and video on-demand access. According to the Wall Street Journal, the deal is the result of negotiations between Sling's owner Dish Network and HBO's owner Time Warner that will also keep channels like TBS, TNT and TruTV on the satellite TV network. Adding the channel to Sling's $20 per month base package with AMC, TNT, ESPN and a few others will cost subscribers an extra $15 once it's available.
That puts the add-on at the same price as Apple charges, except it's ready for a number of other devices like Roku, Xbox One, Android and Fire TV. The downside of course is that it's now bundled, but picking up and dropping the contract-free Sling TV is a lot easier than most cable TV services. So if you're a cord-cutter tell us -- is this the way you'll be watching HBO?
