Chromecast Can Now Stream Live Television With Added Sling TV Support

Sling TV, Dish’s streaming live TV service that offers a variety of cable TV channels, including ESPN, is now available on Google’s Chromecast. The forthcoming addition of Sling TV support was first announced in September, when Google unveiled its updated Chromecast dongles which changed the design from a stick to a round and colorful disk in order to accommodate the device’s upgraded innards and its built-in HDMI cable.

While Chromecast today supports dozen of apps, including Netflix, Hulu, Google Play Movies, HBO NOW, Pandora, Spotify, YouTube, and many more, Sling TV provides a way to watch live and on-demand television for the reduced price of $20 per month. With Sling’s entry-level package, you can access a core bundle of channels such as TBS, TNT, ESPN, Adult Swim, HGTV, A&E, History and more – essentially, many of the channels you may miss when you ditch your cable TV or satellite subscription.

In addition, Sling TV allows you to add-on extra packages at $5 per month to further customize your programming lineup with things like more sports channels, Spanish-language television, kids’ shows and more. You can also add on HBO for $15 per month.

Sling TV previously supported a range of platforms, including desktop (Mac and PC), mobile (iOS, Android, and Amazon Fire devices), as well as Fire TV, Nexus Player and Roku, but the company said Chromecast support has been heavily in-demand among its user base.

Google, meanwhile, has been steadily rolling an expanded selection of content that works with Chromecast, noting at the time of the Sling TV announcement that support for Showtime, NBA and MLB apps was also in the works.

To promote the launch, Sling TV is giving new customers who pre-pay for three months of Sling TV’s service a free Chromecast device. In addition, Chromecast users can take advantage of a two-month free trial of Sling’s “Best of Live TV” package – meaning its $20 per month core package.

Sling TV is a decent enough service, but is more heavily focused on live TV as its on-demand lineup is limited. However, its big draw is providing over-the-top access to ESPN – something that’s a must-have for many sports fans. But the service also suffers from several limitations – for example, you can only stream Sling TV to one device at a time, and, because it’s live television, you’ll also be presented with commercials.