The world of Free Ad-Support Television (or FAST) is growing rapidly, with Sling TV the latest streaming service to try and break into the market. They're doing so with Sling Freestream, a new tier to Sling's existing line-up.
As the name suggests, Sling Freestream doesn't cost anything, but it lets you stream from 210 channels including CBS News, USA Today, Sports Grid, Filmrise, AMC Thrillers, Dust, MTV, the Bob Ross channel, Pet Collective, Tastemade and many more. The line-up includes plenty of international channels, including France 24, Al Jazeera and India TV, as well as a wide range of Latino options.
Joining the live TV selection, Freestream also offers a video on demand collection. Some big names on the platform including Kitchen Nightmares, South Park and The Joy of Painting.
A key "selling" point of Sling Freestream is its flexibility, as you can bring different streaming services into the fold if you want. For an additional fee you can include Discovery Plus, Showtime, AMC Plus or one of a list of 50 smaller services to bulk up your library.
You can also easily upgrade from Freestream to one of Sling TV's paid plans if you want: there's Orange or Blue for $40 per month, or a combined package for $55 monthly (with your first month half price). This lets you effectively treat Freestream as a taster for the paid live TV streaming service.
While free TV is great, the channel list is quite limited; you'll also have to put up with ads if you watch from these channels or check out the on-demand library. That's what ad-supported means, of course.
Sling Freestream is currently available on Roku devices and is quickly rolling out on every other platform that supports Sling TV. Sling has confirmed that it's looking to increase the channel and video library line-up in the near future, so expect it to get better with time.
This isn't your only option if you're looking for a FAST service: Tubi, The Roku Channel, Amazon Freevee and Pluto TV all offer similar services. But with Sling Freestream's robust channel line up and easy customization with extra channels, as well as the quality of paid Sling, it could prove quite popular.
