SmartStream

Sling TV is offering free weekends for premium channels and deals to attract new subscribers. Each weekend from Friday, June 24th through the end of August 2022, will be "Freeview Weekends" where all Sling TV subscribers can watch premium channels without signing up or paying for them.

This offer extends to the Sling Orange, Blue or Orange+Blue paid subscribers and those who have signed up for the Sling Free service. As the name implies, it's free to sign up for Sling Free, which consists of about 100 ad-supported live, linear channels similar to those available on other services like Pluto TV or Xumo TV.

The Freeview weekends begin with full access to Showtime, running from 9 a.m. ET on Friday, June 24th through 9 a.m. ET on Monday, June 27th. This includes the premiere of season 5 of The Chi and popular shows like the new series The Man Who Fell to Earth andThe First Lady as well as classic favorites Dexter, Homeland, The Affair, The L Word and Billions. Movies include Mission Impossible, Moonlight, American Graffiti, Desperately Seeking Susan, Ghost, Lady Bird, and many more nostalgic classics.

Subsequent weekends will feature previews of Epix, AMC+, Sundance Now, Hallmark Movies Now, and Curiosity Stream. Sling TV is not announcing the exact schedule. The selected weekly Freeview service will be added to the subscriber's home page and in the guide for the weekend that it is available.

"Sling launched in 2015 with one goal in mind: provide people easy access to their favorite shows and content, without a bloated monthly bill," said Gary Schanman, executive vice president and group president of SLING TV. "This sentiment holds true today — if a user wants to subscribe to any of our nearly 50 premium standalone services à la carte, they can do it. And now with Freeview Weekends, our current subscribers can 'try before they buy' every Summer weekend with no strings attached by simply turning on Sling to ensure they pay only for what they want to watch."

Premium channels will be available as standalone subscriptions whether users have free or paid Sling TV plans.

Sling TV is also reducing the price of the first month's live TV subscription to $17.50, which is 50 percent off of the Sling Blue entertainment and news tier or the Sling Orange sports and family subscription. The Orange + Blue plan is $25 (usually $50 per month). All base tiers include CNN, BBC America, AMC, BET, Comedy Central, Food Network, HGTV, History Channel, Lifetime, Cartoon Network, Nick Junior, TNT, the Travel Channel, TBS, and Vice.