Sling TV Offering ‘Essentials & Select’ Bundle Starting at $34.99
Buried in their announcement about the new Essentials channel bundle, Sling TV announced it’s serving up a combination of that plan with their other smallest channel package. Essentials & Select starts at $34.99 and it includes a fair number of important channels, including 13 of the 37 most-watched TV channels.
If you live in an area where you can get NBC, ABC, and FOX, the price will be $39.99 if you get 2 of the 3, and $44.99/month if you can get them all. More on that below.
Sling TV (Essentials & Select)
$34.99/mo+
Includes 13 of the 37 most-watched channels
What Channels Are Included in Sling Essentials & Select?
Essentials has 13 channels. Select has 14. The combination has 23 altogether.
- NBC (select markets)
- ABC (select markets)
- FOX (select markets)
- Fox News Channel
- ESPN
- ESPN2
- FS1
- Me TV
- National Geographic
- GRIT
- NFL Network
- FX
- Game Show Network
- H&I (Heroes & Icons)
- LMN (Lifetime Movie Network)
- VICE
- Grit
- Hallmark Mystery
- Freeform
- Disney Channel
- Game Show Network
- Start TV
- Bounce
How Can You Tell if You’re Eligible for NBC, ABC, or FOX?
Sling’s site will alert you when you put in your zip code, but here are the markets involved.
| Market | FOX | NBC | ABC |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta | Yes | ||
| Austin | Yes | ||
| Boston | Yes | ||
| Chicago | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Dallas | Yes | Yes | |
| Detroit | Yes | ||
| Fresno | Yes | ||
| Gainesville | Yes | ||
| Hartford | Yes | ||
| Houston | Yes | Yes | |
| Los Angeles | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Miami | Yes | ||
| Milwaukee | Yes | ||
| Minneapolis | Yes | ||
| New York City | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Orlando | Yes | ||
| Philadelphia | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Phoenix | Yes | ||
| Raleigh/Durham | Yes | ||
| San Diego | Yes | ||
| San Francisco/Oakland | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| San Jose | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Seattle | Yes | ||
| Tacoma | Yes | ||
| Tampa | Yes | ||
| Washington, D.C. | Yes | Yes |
Bundle Bonanza
This new bundle means Sling TV is offering an incredibly complex level of customization for its users.
The main packages are Orange and Blue. You can combine those.
The smaller packages are Select and Essentials. You can combine those as well.
Depending on your base package or bundles, there are lots of different add-on bundles to meet your needs, like additional sports and news channels.
Sling is also the only service to offer shorter-term plans. You can watch for as little as one day, three days, or a full week.
We applaud the innovation, but it can get confusing and we cover this stuff for a living.
Is Sling Essentials & Select Worth It?
It probably depends on whether you live where you can get those local broadcast networks.
This is a remarkably specific channel set. The combination of ESPN, FS1, and NFL Network is a good start for sports fans, but it still leaves several key channels aside.
Even if you live in an area where you can get NBC, ABC, and FOX, Sling still doesn’t carry CBS. (Paramount+ is a good workaround for that if you need it.)
sale
Paramount+
99¢/mo
$13.99/mo
Repeat deal for 2 mo
Must use code N8C27L
The Sling Essentials & Select is probably a great deal for some viewers, but I can pull in most of those channels for free with an antenna – ESPN, FS1, and Fox News Channels are important exceptions. If you don’t have an antenna, it’s worth grabbing one because there’s a lot you can watch for free.
Channel Master FLATenna
Use this great indoor antenna to pick up free HD and digital signals with a 35-mile range. Watch ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, PBS, and more for free forever!
4K compatible – Supports ATSC 3.0 – Ultra-thin
Streaming Smarter’s Channel Finder
To see the best live TV plan for you, we recommend trying Streaming Smarter’s Channel Finder tool. This should help you find the best package for the channels you need.
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