Sling TV is about to get more expensive due to “rising costs,” with the streaming service set to raise prices by $5.99 per month on its individual Sling Orange and Blue plans and combo Orange + Blue plans starting on or after Dec. 20.
The latest increase, which comes after Sling hiked prices by $5 per month in March 2023, will bring the starting cost of the individual Sling Orange and Blue plans to $46 per month before additional fees for local channels, extra packages, or add-ons, while Sling’s Orange + Blue combo plan will start at $61 per month.
“These increases are industry wide — other leading streaming providers have had increases throughout 2024,” the company said in a statement on its website. “Despite this, Sling continues to be the most affordable option with offerings more than twenty dollars less per month versus other providers.”
Sling Blue offers 46 total channels, including 19 news and entertainment channels, such as ABC, Fox and NBC local stations, while Sling Orange offers 35 total channels, including 8 sports and family channels, such as Disney Channel and ESPN. Blue plans can stream on three devices at a time, while Orange can only stream on one. The Orange + Blue plan includes all 46 channels.
The move comes as DirecTV has terminated an agreement with Sling TV parent EchoStar to acquire the streaming service and Dish Network for $1 plus $9.75 billion in debt. The deal was scrapped after Dish’s bondholders rejected a revised offer put forward by DirecTV at the end of October. That would’ve lowered the minimum loss on $8.9 billion of bonds by $70 million to $1.5 billion.
During the third quarter of 2024, EchoStar shed a total of 43,000 pay TV subscribers for a total of 8.03 million, including 5.89 million Dish TV subscribers. Meanwhile, Sling TV added 145,000 subscribers during the quarter for a total of 2.14 million.
EchoStar CEO Hamid Akhavan told analysts during the company’s third quarter earnings call that Dish would have a path forward regardless of the DirecTV deal closing. As part of the deal, DirecTV, private equity firm TPG Angelo Gordon and certain co-investors provided $2.5 billion in financing so Dish could meet its debt maturity in November.
The company also raised an additional $5.6 billion in financing as part of a series of recently announced transactions, which EchoStar spokesperson Ted Wietecha previously told TheWrap is “unaffected” by the DirecTV deal. Meanwhile, the separate sale of AT&T’s remaining 70% stake in DirecTV to TPG will resume as planned and is expected to close in the first half of 2025.
Shares of EchoStar fell over 2% during Friday’s trading session.
