Sling TV Senior Discounts, Deals, and Offers in 2024

What Is Sling TV?

Sling TV is an app-based TV service that provides channel packages to over 2 million subscribers. Its content includes live-streamed television, including shows, movies, and sports coverage, as well as some on-demand content you can watch anytime. Its three plans — Orange, Blue, and Orange and Blue — often overlap, so choosing among them is not as simple as picking a “basic” or “premier” plan. Below we list the main channels available with each plan so you can prioritize the content that matters to you.

Unlike a normal cable service, Sling TV is an app that works through smart devices (see a list of compatible devices below). You need an internet connection rather than a cable hookup to access your content. That can be an advantage since you don’t have to deal with complicated hardware, but people with an inconsistent internet connection should think twice before replacing their cable with live-streaming TV.

What Equipment Do You Need?

Once you pick a plan, you can watch Sling TV on your smart TV through your internet connection or on your phone or tablet through the mobile app. There’s also a browser version, so pretty much any device connected to the internet can be used to access your Sling TV content, including:

• AirTV
• Amazon Echo and Fire
• Android phones and tablets
• Apple TV
• Google Chrome
• Chromebook and Chromecast
• iPad and iPhone
• LG TV
• Roku
• Vizio
• XBOX
• Xfinity Flex

Sling TV recommends an internet speed of at least 5 Mbps, but higher speeds will produce higher-quality video. Check with your internet provider to learn the internet speed you get and how to increase it.

You won’t need a box, cable, or antenna to access Sling TV — with one exception. If you want to access local channels, such as the Fox, NBC, CBS, or ABC affiliates in your area, you’ll have to augment Sling TV with an antenna or compatible DVR device.

Since most live TV streaming services, such as Hulu + Live TV, offer local streaming options without the need for extra hardware, that should be a factor in your decision to get Sling TV.

Sling TV Features

Sling TV plans feature live TV (including sports coverage), a DVR service that lets you record and save programs, on-demand content that can be selected and watched anytime, and premium channels that can be added to your account for extra monthly fees.

The result is a service that is much more customizable than most cable networks or streaming services like Netflix or Hulu. Once you have one of the base Sling TV plans, you can buy as much or as little extra as you want. So long as you don’t need local channels that require an antenna hookup, you can add, record, and stream whatever you need from any device that supports a Sling TV account and has a suitable internet connection.

Continue reading for a breakdown of the main features offered by Sling’s three subscriptions.

Looking for live sports, including local channels? Then read our guide to FuboTV for seniors.

Live TV streaming

Sling TV offers a variety of channels at a maximum resolution of 720p, which is lower than true HD (1080p). That’s the typical cap for live-streamed TV, but the resolution you ultimately receive will depend on your internet speed.

Without add-ons, the channels available through Sling TV — whether you get the Orange or Blue plan — include:

• A&E
• AMC
• CNN
• Comedy Central
• Comet
• Food Network
• History Channel
• HGTV
• Lifetime
• TNT
• Travel Channel
• Vice

Some channels are specific to the Orange plans, such as Disney, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN 3, Freeform, and MotorTrend. Channels specific to Blue plans include Bravo, Discovery, E!, FOX, Fox News, FOX Sports 1, FX, HLN, MSNBC, NFL Network, National Geographic, Syfy, TLC, truTV, and USA.

The sports options available through Sling TV make it preferable to streaming services like Netflix and Hulu, which either don’t offer sports content or charge more for it, as in the case of the Hulu + Live TV plan ($69.99).

On-Demand Content

Like those streaming services, however, Sling TV also offers on-demand content, which means you can watch it any time by clicking it on any of your supported devices. They have too many movies and shows to list them all, but some highlights include:

• “Yellowstone”
• “Fear the Walking Dead”
• “Sistas”
• “Alone”
• “Law & Order”
• “South Park”
• “60 Days In”
• “Below Deck”
• “The Real Housewives of New Jersey”
• “Top Gun: Maverick”
• “Everything Everywhere All at Once”
• “No Time to Die”
• “Spider-Man: No Way Home”
• “Moneyball”

Sling DVR

Sling DVR allows you to record up to 50 hours of your favorite shows and movies for free. Once recorded, you can watch them whenever you want on any supported device. You can even fast-forward through commercials.

If you want more space, you can get 200 hours for $5 more per month, which also lets you download a backup of your favorites. Sling TV has options to automatically record certain shows so you never miss them.

Multiple Streams

Sling TV does not offer as many opportunities to stream on multiple devices as other TV streaming services, such as FuboTV. Sling Orange plans can be streamed to only one device, while Sling Blue can stream to three and Orange and Blue can stream to four.

That means multiple family members can watch their content on compatible devices — such as a smartphone, tablet, or TV — at the same time. Only one TV can be used regardless of how many devices you have in your plan, though, and the six channels unique to Sling Orange cannot be streamed to multiple devices even if you have the Orange and Blue plan.

Premium Channels

Premium channels can be added to your Sling TV subscription at extra costs per month, which allows you to stream the content from those stations to any of your compatible devices. Here’s a list of some of the top premium add-ons and their related costs:

• Showtime ($10 per month)
• STARZ ($9 per month)
• MGM+ ($5 per month)
• AMC+ ($7.99 per month)
• Discovery+ ($4.99 per month)
• Acorn ($6.99 per month)
• ALLBLK ($5.99 per month)
• BET+ ($10 per month)
• Carnegie Hall+ ($7.99 per month)
• CineFest ($5 per month)
• Cocina On ($3 per month)
• Hallmark Movies Now ($6 per month)
• Shudder ($6 per month)
• UP Faith & Family ($5 per month)

Sling TV Senior Discount

At the time of writing, Sling TV does not offer a discount specific to seniors.

Compared to Sling TV’s $40 per month subscription, Xfinity cable costs $50 per month for a basic plan, Spectrum costs $59.99 per month, and Cox costs $56 per month. Whether Sling is a good deal for you depends on how the channels you select stack up to competitors’ plans.

Sling TV Pricing

Sling recently increased its prices by $5 per month, which makes both Sling Orange and Sling Blue $40 per month. The combination plan costs $55 per month, which will save you $25 compared to buying both separately.

One thing we liked about Sling’s packages is the free trial option, which allows you to try the setup for free to see if it works for your expectations and internet setup. They’re competitively priced compared to other TV streaming services, but they don’t come with as many channels as some of their competitors.

Sling Packages

Sling TV vs. Hulu

Hulu is a streaming service with movie and TV content that is available exclusively on demand. Its starting package is $7.99 per month, but it doesn’t include any live TV or sports content. Hulu’s larger package, Hulu + Live TV, is more similar to Sling, but it costs $69.99 per month. It includes over 90 channels, such as ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, and ESPN, as well as local and regional games and subscriptions to Disney+ and ESPN+.

Sling TV offers multiple plans, so you can pay less for the channels you want to prioritize. Hulu + Live TV is a more robust offering in both on-demand streaming and hassle-free live TV, but it’s significantly more expensive. Which one is better for your needs depends on whether you want to pay extra for the extra content.

To learn more about Hulu, read our guide to Hulu for seniors.

Our Verdict

The best thing about Sling TV is the ability to select a plan for only $40 per month and potentially get everything you want in terms of live TV channels and streamed sports. Compared to other services with more content, this may be all you need.

The downside of having to pick and choose between plans — and the possibility of needing an antenna to receive local channels — could make Sling TV a poor fit in some situations compared to a more robust option like Hulu + Live TV. But for budget live TV services — especially those that include sports content — this is one of the best we’ve tried.