On the heels of YouTube TV’s price increase for its monthly subscription, competitor Sling TV has taken the opportunity to tell their future and present subscribers that they will not be increasing their rates for at least one year. This 1-Year Price Guarantee will last until August 1, 2021 so even if they will add new content to their library, users will still pay their $30 a month fee. That $15 increase that YouTube TV announced obviously didn’t go well with subscribers so Sling TV may have this chance to get them over to their side.
YouTube TV announced that they were increasing their $50 per month monthly subscription to $65 per month due to rising costs in acquiring content. They did announce some new channels, specifically Viacom CBS channels like BET, CMT, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount Network, TV Land and VH1 and with more to come. Given the current pandemic situation, this may have been poor timing on their part.
Sling TV immediately reacted by launching a 1-Year Price Guarantee for their current users and those who will sign up for the service by August 1, 2020. This means that they will still pay $30 per month until August 1, 2021 for both SLING Orange and SLING Blue. Even if they will be adding new channels or networks, they will not put that cost onto their consumers. The idea for cord-cutting services is to not let people spend that much on channels they don’t always watch anyway.
$30 per month is the base price that you pay for a Sling TV subscription but it also has some other add-ons that you can, well, add. You can DVR shows for an extra fee and you can choose which channels you want to be able to watch on your subscription. This solves the problem of paying for something you don’t watch often enough that normal cable subscriptions have.
Sling TV took a potshot at YouTube TV, saying that unexpected price jumps are difficult, especially during this time when Americans have to watch their budget and spending. While price hikes are expected, having one now and a significant amount at that, would obviously not go well with the public.
