If you’re a Sling TV customer, be prepared to pay more money for your live TV streaming subscription soon.
Sling announced on Nov. 3, 2022, that a price hike is coming for all three of its base subscription packages. This will affect both new and existing subscribers.
Here’s a quick rundown of what we know so far.
Sling Price Increase 2022: 5 Things To Know
Like many of its competitors have done in recent months, Sling is upping the cost of its live TV streaming subscriptions. We don’t have all the long-term details of this move yet, but I have answers to some of the questions you may have.
How Much Will Sling Subscriptions Cost After the Price Increase?
Sling is raising the price of its three base subscriptions by $5 per month. This impacts the Orange, Blue and Orange + Blue subscriptions.
Here’s a look at the existing prices and the new pricing:
| Subscription Package | Current Monthly Price | New Monthly Price |
| Sling Orange | $35 | $40 |
| Sling Blue | $35 | $40 |
| Sling Orange + Blue | $50 | $55 |
When Will the Price Increase Take Effect?
If you’re an existing subscriber, you have a little bit of time to plan your next move. Sling says the new pricing will apply to existing customers’ next bill on or after December 3, 2022.
If you’re planning to subscribe, know that the new prices are already in effect.
A quick look at Sling.com shows the pricing advertised alongside a promotion that offers new customers half off for the first month of membership.
Why Is This Price Increase Happening?
Sling’s letter to subscribers says this is a move to keep up with the rising costs Sling is paying for access to the channels it already gives subscribers.
“This price increase was implemented to match the rising costs of bringing our customers the entertainment they love. While there will not be any specific channel additions at this time, we are reviewing agreements with channel owners every day to further expand your streaming entertainment experience.”
Existing Sling customers may have a recent dispute with Disney fresh on their minds.
In early October, Sling removed popular channels including ESPN from the service for a short period of time while it very publicly negotiated a new agreement with Disney.
And now, just a month later, Sling is asking subscribers to pay an extra $5 per month. It’s hard to believe those two events aren’t at least somewhat related.
Will We Get Anything of Value for Our Bigger Payments?
Perhaps the most annoying part of this price increase is that it doesn’t offer anything new to existing customers.
However, it is worth noting that Sling EVP Gary Schanman hinted at some improvements coming to Sling in 2023 during this price hike announcement.
“Our focus on value and innovation has never been stronger and we have a robust list of new features we’re excited to share in the future, including plans to add 150-plus new channels through 2023, new User Profiles for your household and auto Binge Watching capabilities.”
Of course, skeptics will wonder if those promised improvements will come with another price hike next year.
Will This Increase Impact Sling Add-On Packages?
If there’s any silver lining to this price increase, it’s that the prices of all of Sling’s popular add-on packages remain the same.
Sling addresses this in the letter to consumers about the price increase, assuring customers that add-ons, rentals, pay-per-views and other product offerings are not impacted by this price hike.
Final Thoughts
Team Clark has long praised Sling as one of the best value streaming services on the market, so it’s disappointing to see that it is creeping closer to the cost of top-rated live TV services such as YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV.
It makes it harder to justify tolerating the smaller channel offering and inferior cloud DVR storage from Sling’s base packages when the price gap is just $10 per month to go from Sling Orange + Blue to YouTube TV.
But it was probably unrealistic to expect Sling to stay so cheap forever. It seems like price hikes are the reality of paying for streaming services in 2022.
Will this price increase change your opinion of Sling TV? We’d love to hear how you’re handling this in the Clark.com community.
