Dish Network’s streaming television service Sling TV has removed a feature that allowed sports and news fans to subscribe to a handful of channels for as little as 24 hours.
The feature, called Sling Pass, allowed streamers to watch sports from ESPN, news from CNN and programming from a selection of other networks for as little as $5, which unlocked one full day of access. Other Sling Passes allowed customers to access those same channels for three days (originally one weekend) or seven days, depending on how much they were willing to pay.
The Sling Pass was marketed as a way for sports fans to watch live games from college and professional teams without having to sign up for a monthly or long-term bundle, which was geared toward streamers who didn’t want a streaming cable TV replacement on the regular but still needed access to channels like ESPN and TNT for one-off sports events.
“Sling was built to give our customers the ultimate control over their entertainment, and Sling Passes delivered on that promise for millions,” Sling TV said in a note to customers, a copy of which was obtained and reviewed by The Desk. “Though Sling Passes are no longer available, we look forward to continuing to innovate and showing our customers new ways to experience the content they love.”
Dish has not otherwise commented on the removal of the Sling Pass. Its website was updated to point customers to its other offerings, including slimmer packages of channels called Sling Essentials (which offers ESPN) and Sling Select (Fox News, NFL Network), each starting at $20 per month.
The Sling Pass feature was controversial from the start: It invited lawsuits from the Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros Discovery (WBD), with the programmers accusing Dish Network of violating agreements to distribute its channels to customers.
Those agreements allow programmers like Disney and WBD to recoup fees from satellite and streaming providers like Dish in exchange for the privilege of reselling access to their networks to paying customers. The programmers contend the Sling Pass feature had the potential to deprive them of regular revenue, since the channels were sold outside of a conventional monthly plan.
But the Sling Pass feature was popular with streamers: Executives at Dish Network parent Echostar said it was directly responsible for a boost in Sling TV subscribers during the third quarter (Q3) of last year, with its customer count increasing by 159,000 over a three-month period. Sling TV generally serves around 2 million customers, far fewer than Dish Network but putting it ahead of some comparable streaming services like Fubo, Philo and Frndly TV.
