Summary
Sling Orange vs. Sling Blue.. Things are done differently with Sling TV. Unlike other live streaming services, it offers more than just one plan. This sets it apart from what are often known as linear services, where viewers all see the same content at the same time provided by networks. I mean, it’s not even like there are different pricing levels.
Even if it isn’t really a la carte TV, Sling TV is still your best bet for a la carte TV. Sling TV does not allow channel customization, although channel packages are customizable.
Two basic options are available with Sling TV: Sling Orange and Sling Blue. Compared to Sling’s rivals, none of these plans offers nearly as many channels. However, none of them is quite as expensive. The goal is to pay for the amount you desire and then expand your streaming plan with a series of add-ons called “Extras.”
What Are Sling Orange and Sling Blue?
Sling Orange and Sling Blue are the two plans that Sling TV provides. Their services don’t fall cleanly into any one category, yet you receive various channels with each package. To rephrase, Sling Blue isn’t designed for entertainment enthusiasts and Sling Orange isn’t aimed toward sports lovers. Actually, to find out which package is better for your live TV demands, you have to browse channel by channel. Sling TV offers a combined Orange and Blue plan that includes all channels from both plans in the event that none of them provides all the channels you watch. This is likely to be the case for certain viewers.
You can get Sling Orange and Blue for $45/month, or $30/month for each plan separately. Extras and Premium channels are available for purchase as monthly add-ons with any package, and they may significantly increase expenses. Other live TV choices, including Hulu + Live TV or Editors’ Choice YouTube TV, are worth considering if you find that you need to acquire many add-ons to watch what you want. Both services are more expensive than Orange & Blue, but they provide more channels, nicer user interfaces, and useful extras like YouTube TV’s 1080p video streams and Hulu’s on-demand library.
Keep a Slingbox separate from Sling TV. A web-based live TV streaming service, Sling TV doesn’t need any extra gear. If you already have a cable or satellite TV box, you may use a Slingbox, made by Sling Media, to stream live and recorded TV to other devices using the Slingplayer applications. Dish Network Corporation’s Sling TV and Sling Media are separate but related businesses.
Schedule of Channels
A similar thread of fragmentation appears when comparing the news, entertainment, and sports programming of Sling Orange and Sling Blue. Since Sling TV doesn’t provide all of your favorite channels, you can also see coverage gaps that make the service unusable. For instance, only the Blue or combo plan subscribers may get local NBC and Fox affiliates, while the service doesn’t provide local CBS stations. Some areas may be able to get these channels with an indoor antenna, but that would be a waste of money if you were paying for a live TV streaming service.
At the newsstand, you may find BBC America, Bloomberg Television, Cheddar Business, Cheddar News, CNN, Newsy, and Local Now on both Sling Orange and Sling Blue. NBC, Fox, Fox News, and MSNBC are all available on Sling TV’s Blue package, which is an advantage over other plans. This selection is in line with what other live TV providers offer, however some, like CNBC and BBC World News, include more channels that you don’t have to pay for.
When it comes to entertainment, both plans provide a large selection of channels including A&E, Adult Swim, AMC, AXS TV, Cartoon Network, Comedy Central, Comet, Epix Drive-In, Food Network, HGTV, History, IFC, Investigation Discovery, Lifetime, TBS, TNT, Travel Channel, Tribeca Shortlist, and Viceland. Sling Blue offers a wider selection of entertainment channels compared to the Orange plan. These channels include USA, Paramount Network, SYFY, Bravo, Discovery, E!, FX, FXX, Nat Geo, Nat Geo Wild, Nick Jr., SYFY, TLC, truTV, and USA. Disney Channel, Freeform, and MotorTrend are just a handful of the unique channels available on Sling Orange. Think about the entertainment-focused Philo if that’s all you’re interested in. At under $20/month, it offers a plethora of channels that are similar to those mentioned below.
The Orange and Blue subscriptions on Sling TV aren’t great for streaming sports because of the confusing channel split; the only channel that both plans share is Stadium. Sports lovers can only benefit from Sling Orange since it contains ESPN, ESPN 2, and ESPN 3—content that is not available on the Blue package. Conversely, NBCSN and the NFL Network are available to Sling Blue customers. It has been mentioned that NFL fans are impacted by Sling’s absence of CBS and broadcast affiliates. Improved choices are available in our compilation of top NFL streaming providers. Even if it doesn’t include ESPN channels, FuboTV is still a great service for serious sports enthusiasts.
Premium Channels and Extras
Sling Orange, Sling Blue, and the combination plan all let subscribers to purchase Extras, which are bundles of extra channels. The Extras are priced and named similarly for both the Orange and Blue plans, however the channels included in each bundle vary. Although Sling’s Blue plan does contain some of the component channels by default, there are some discrepancies that seem to be random.
Orange and Blue subscribers get beIN Sports, MLB Network, MLB Network Strikezone, NBA TV, NHL Network, Outside TV, Pac-12, and Tennis Channel with the $10/month Sports Extra bundle. Longhorn Network, SEC Network, ESPNU, ESPNews, ESPNU Extra, ESPN Bases Loaded, ESPN Goal Line, ESPNU, and ACC Network are all available to Orange Plan customers. Sling Blue subscribers have access to the Olympic Channel, Golf Channel, and NFL RedZone.
Any of these plans may be upgraded with the $5/month Comedy Extra to include CMT, GSN, Logo, MTV, MTV2, Revolt, and TV Land. With this bundle, Sling Orange customers get access to Paramount Network and truTV. You can add BabyTV, Boomerang, Duck TV, TeenNick, and NickToons to any of the two plans for $5 a month with the Kids add-on. Orange plan customers also receive Disney Junior, Disney XD, and Nick Jr.
With the News add-on ($5/month), subscribers to any plan may access BBC World News, CGTN, Euronews, HLN, Law & Crime, News18, NewsMax, RT America, Science Channel, TheBlaze, and Weather Nation. Fusion is available to Sling Orange members as well, while CNBC, Fox Business, France 24, and NDTV 24×7 are available to Sling Blue subscribers. You may add Cooking Channel, DIY, FYI, Hallmark Channel, Hallmark Drama, Lifetime Movies, VH1, WE TV, and Z Living HD to both plans with the $5/month LifeStyle bundle. In contrast to the Blue Plan’s Oxygen, the Orange Plan’s consumers get BET.
The Film Detective, Cinemoi, HDNet Movies, Reelz, Sundance TV, and TCM are all part of Hollywood Extra, which costs $5 per month. Users of the Blue Plan also get access to FXX and FX Movies. For $5 a month, Orange and Blue members may get the Heartland package, which includes programs including American Heroes Channel, Cowboy Channel, Destination America, Outdoor Channel, PixL, Ride TV, RFD-TV, Sportsman Channel, and World Fishing Network. Nat Geo Wild is also a part of the Blue strategy.
Any package also has the option to add Premium Channels, in addition to Extras. Showtime ($10/month), Starz ($9/month), and Epix ($5/month) are the most popular channels provided. With prices ranging from $3 to $8/month, you may also access over 20 more Premium channels. A few examples of more unusual networks include Pantaya, Stingray Qello, Comedy Dynamics, Dog TV, Grokker, Hopster, Lion Mountain TV, and Docurama.
Functions and Systems
You can watch on one device simultaneously with Sling Orange, but with Sling Blue, that restriction is raised to three. There is an increase to four devices per subscriber when they sign up for the Sling Orange and Blue bundle. As an example, whereas AT&T TV Now defaults to limiting you to two devices, YouTube TV allows you to watch on three devices at once.
Up to 10 hours of material may now be recorded to DVR storage with Sling TV. You may increase your storage limit to 50 hours for an additional $5 per month if you want more space. For as long as your membership is active, you will have access to the recordings. When compared to other services, Sling’s free DVR isn’t very good. When compared, YouTube TV’s DVR capacity is infinite and it retains recordings for nine months.
Sling is available on a wide variety of platforms, including but not limited to Apple TV, Roku, Chromecast, Android, iOS, Windows Store, Chrome, and Xbox One. You can’t use a PlayStation 4 with Sling TV. However, unlike other live TV services, Sling does include parental control options.
Versatile, However Broken
The sling TV’s Orange and Blue plans are less expensive than alternatives with all the bells and whistles, but you’ll have to look closely at the fine print to see whether they’re worth the $30 a month. Since the two schemes don’t cleanly separate channels according to interests, the solution may still remain unclear even after you do. Users who aren’t looking for a full replacement for their cable service will find these plans to be satisfactory, while those who are may be disappointed. While the more costly Orange and Blue bundle does provide greater coverage, there are better alternatives available for the same price range, such YouTube TV and Hulu with Live TV, which were selected by our editors for the live TV category.
That being said, which one is “better?” Orange Sling or Blue Sling?
The actual issue, like with any streaming service, is which one offers the channels you’re looking for. A number of channels are shared across the two schemes, and there is a lot of overlap between them. On the other hand, some channels are only available with certain plans. At that point, Sling’s tactic becomes clear: obtaining a single track is sufficient. Gaining both, however, is preferable. And that is precisely the motivation for their pricing.
Nonetheless, returning to our original inquiry. It’s really not that difficult to determine which one is “better” for your requirements. Sling Orange, which includes ESPN, is the one you should get if you’re a sports fan. Plus ESPN2, ESPN3, and the rest. Sling Blue is the best option if you value news channels more highly, since it includes SNL, MSNBC, and Fox News, among others.
However, after that, things start to become more tricky. Another sports-centric channel, FS1 stands for Fox Sports 1. Additionally, Sling TV in the US carries Premier League matches. However, you can only get those channels with Sling Blue. Do you need Freeform or Disney Channel? Watch them on Sling Orange.
Sling is now attempting to get you to upgrade to Sling Orange and Sling Blue, which are somewhat more expensive, since you can see how they work.
This is the breakdown of the channels as of early 2024 to help you decide whether to buy one or both:
Sling Orange subscribers only get access to the following channels: Disney Channel, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, FreeForm, and Motor Trend.
Sling Blue only subscribers may watch the following channels: E!, Bravo, Discovery, FS1, FX, Fox News, HLN, MSNBC, NFL Network, National Geographic, SYFY, TLC, USA, and TruTV.
Channels such as A&E, AMC, BBC America, BET, Bloomberg, Charge!, CNN, Cartoon Network, Comedy Central, Comet, Food Network, Fuse, HGTV, History Channel, IFC, Investigation Discovery, Lifetime, Local Now, MGM+ Drive-In, Nick Jr., QVC, TBS, TNT, Travel Channel, and Vice are accessible on either cable or satellite.
Which one do you think is ideal? Your desires are the only determinant. Achieve it. You should get both. Have fun regardless.
