A newly announced Sling TV CCA Partnership will give CCA members, primarily rural and regional wireless carriers, the ability to bundle a popular streaming OTT service. Sling says it’s the first of its kind partnership for the streaming provider.
The deal gives CCA members the ability to provide and bill for Sling TV’s streaming service, which starts at $20 a month for a streaming ‘skinny bundle’ of popular TV channels.
“We are delighted to partner with Sling TV, the leading live TV streaming service, on this new program, which will bring immense value to members, especially those that do not currently offer video,” said Steven K. Berry, President & CEO, CCA in a press release. “Customers of CCA members now will have the ability to easily bundle their wireless service with their Sling TV entertainment on a single bill.”
CCA counts close to 100 wireless carriers as members, including T-Mobile and Sprint. Most of the CCA membership serves rural and regional markets across the country, with CCA claiming their member licenses reach 95% of the country.
A Sling TV spokesperson declined to offer any details regarding the new partnership, which was announced today at the CCA annual convention, taking place this week in Ft. Worth, Tex. The spokesperson did confirm the program is live as of today and CCA members can begin offering the bundled service immediately.
Video Grows in Importance for Wireless
Video is an increasingly important tool for wireless. Large national carriers, including CCA member T-Mobile have been quite active in bundling video services with wireless. T-Mobile recently launched a free Netflix bundled offer for wireless subscribers and heavily promotes streaming video over its network.
AT&T has a similar free bundled offer for its unlimited wireless subscribers, offering a free HBO subscription. AT&T also closely aligns both their traditional pay TV service Directv and their new streaming OTT service DIRECTV NOW, a competitor of Sling TV, with their wireless offers.
“This new program helps level the playing field for CCA’s nearly 100 members in an increasingly competitive video industry, where providers constantly battle for customer loyalty,” said Warren Schlichting, Executive Vice President of Marketing, Programming and Media Sales, Sling TV said in the press release.