TV Answer Man, I hear that Sling TV is raising the price again. Is that true? They just raised prices a few months ago. Why do they need to raise the price again? How much more can we take?!! — Edie, Nashville. 

Edie, Sling TV, the live streaming service owned by Dish, last November raised its base price for new customers from $35 a month to $40 a month. And it is true that it’s raising prices again, but Edie, you won’t see the increase. Let me explain.

On March 1, Sling is adding the local ABC affiliate in eight markets:

Chicago – WlS
Fresno – KFSN
Houston – KTRK
Los Angeles – KABC
New York – WABC

Philadelphia – WPVI
Raleigh-Durham – WTVD
San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose – KGO

This will be the first time that Sling TV has offered ABC in select markets since 2018. That’s the good news.

The bad? In five markets where Sling TV will offer Fox, ABC and NBC affiliates, the live streamer will increase the base price by $5 to $45 a month. The five markets are: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia and San Francisco.

Although Fresno, Houston and Raleigh-Durham will get ABC, too, Sling does not provide either Fox or NBC in those markets so they will not get the price increase. The rate hike is only for markets which will get all three network affiliates. (Sling TV has never carried CBS.) Edie, as a Nashville resident, that means you won’t see an increase nor will anyone else outside the five markets cited above.

“As Sling TV continues to improve the quality of our streaming services, keeping prices low is a top priority,” the streaming service says at its web site. “Sling doesn’t own the networks you watch – we pay programmers for their channels, and the price of programming continues to rise. Sling Blue subscribers in five major markets (Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia and San Francisco) now have access to three major networks – ABC, FOX and NBC – and to maintain business with the rising programming costs, we need to increase the cost of Sling Blue in those select markets by $5 a month.”

Edie, hope that helps. Happy viewing and stay safe!

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— Phillip Swann
@tvanswerman