Members of the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative will be able to offer customers Sling TV and earn a “referral bonus “on the sales through a NeoNova, Sling TV deal announced yesterday.
“Build stronger customer relationships while increasing your revenue through a referral bonus when customers remain on Sling TV for at least three months,” says the NeoNova website.
NRTC may be best known as the organization that negotiates deals with content providers for members that offer traditional pay-TV services (among other services). But the Sling TV offering comes through NRTC’s NeoNova unit, which focuses on streaming video offerings that are delivered across a managed broadband network (NRTC acquired NeoNova in 2013).
The NeoNova, Sling TV Deal
Sling TV was one of the first offerings to hit the market offering a slimmed down pay-TV content lineup, delivered over the top at a lower price point than a traditional pay-TV subscription. The Sling TV offering launched for $20 a month and enables users to stream popular pay-TV content over an Internet connection. Unlike some OTT video offerings it includes sports programming via several ESPN channels. Add-on packages such as a children’s package and a news package also are available starting at $5 a month.
Initially Sling TV had 12 channels but the lineup has since been expanded and now includes AMC, A&E, TNT, HISTORY, TBS, Food Network, HGTV, Travel Channel, Adult Swim, Galavision, Cartoon Network, Disney Channel, CNN, Lifetime, Galavision and more.
One thing Sling TV doesn’t have is local broadcast TV channels. However, NeoNova’s ViewLocal offering (originally launched as YourStream TV in 2014) offers local broadcast channels delivered via streaming across a NeoNova affiliate’s broadband network. This gives NRTC members the option of combining Sling TV with local broadcast channels, for a potential alternative to a traditional pay-TV package.
Depending how various services are priced, that option could appeal to customers who want to cut the cord. ViewLocal allows affiliates to also offer hyper local content in addition to local broadcast channels via Roku devices, iOS and Android mobile apps and web browsers, NeoNova says.
