Sling TV thumbs nose at Disney in latest communication
Sling TV thumbs nose at Disney in latest communication
On Tuesday, Sling TV took a direct shot at Disney and its new ESPN streamer in a press release that may not do it any favors in court.
Ever since Disney filed a lawsuit over the new Passes product launched earlier this month by Sling TV, followers of the case have been waiting to see how Sling would respond publicly. It took the company a few days, but now we know which tone they’ve chosen to proceed with: outright defiance. That was the theme of Sling TV’s press release on Tuesday, which didn’t mention the suit but was quick to take some shots at Disney and its new ESPN streamer.
Key Details:
- Didn’t take long: Disney filed suit against Sling just days after Passes hit the market.
- Keep it quiet: Sling called Passes the product that Disney doesn’t want fans to know about.
- Sock it to ‘em!: The release also says Sling has a history of fighting for its customers.
Tuesday’s press release by Sling is the latest salvo in the lawsuit first filed by Disney just days ago. That suit came only weeks after Sling announced that it was rolling out its new Passes, a new pay-as-you-go subscription option that allows customers to sign up and watch the programming found in the Sling Orange package for a day, a weekend, or a week. Sling Orange is built around the ESPN family of channels, as well as the Disney Channel.
In its lawsuit, Disney says it was never informed by Sling that Passes would be sold to the public. The release from Tuesday doesn’t do anything to address that accusation per se, but it certainly wasn’t afraid to mention Disney by name, nor to point out that Disney’s new ESPN direct-to-consumer product is quite a bit more expensive than a Sling Pass.
“This is the deal ESPN and Disney don’t want you to know about,” Sling TV SVP Seth Van Sickel said in the release. “They’re charging $30 a month for games people used to get without paying more. Sling isn’t playing that game. We’re giving subscribers what they actually want: access to TV, for the entire day, five bucks and zero strings.”
There are no other mentions of Disney in the release, which goes on at some length to describe the usefulness of Passes, the revolutionary nature of the product, and other such promotional verbiage. But in a possible allusion to the lawsuit, Van Sickel pointed to Sling’s long history of thinking about the consumer and how best to serve their needs in language that suggests Disney could be in for a legal slugging match.
“EchoStar has a long track record of fighting for its customers,” said Van Sickel. “We introduced ad-skipping technology with DISH TV, we were there first to offer live streaming TV with Sling, we led the charge to bring local channels to satellite TV, and we have always negotiated with programmers to keep consumer costs as low as possible. Our Day, Weekend and Week Pass subscriptions are just another way we’re fighting to bring customers the programming they want with the flexibility they deserve.”
Disney’s legal team, of course, won’t be intimidated by Sling’s latest salvo. But the stance taken by Sling is interesting to say the least, and it could indicate the fight over Sling TV Passes will get pretty ugly between Sling and Disney before it’s all said and done.
Sling TV
Sling TV is The Streamable’s choice for cord-cutters on a budget. Sling is a live TV streaming service with multiple channel packages. The $45.99/month Sling Orange plan offers about 30 channels, including Disney Channel and ESPN. The $45.99/month Sling Blue plan offers about 40 channels, including ABC, Fox, and NBC in major markets.
You can combine Orange+Blue for a total of $60.99 / month. Sling also offers many channel add-on packages starting at $6/month.