ESPN to be available to stream online for $20 per month

Sling TV, the web-tv service offered by Dish, will allow subscribers to stream ESPN through the internet to their televisions for $20 a month.

Sling TV, a new web-TV service offered by Dish Network, will allow subscribers to stream ESPN through the internet as part of a $20 per month package, Peter Kafka at Re/code reports.

Dish says the service will be available soon and will come with 10 other non-ESPN channels, including TNT, TBS, CNN, Food Network and Cartoon Network.

ESPN's current WatchESPN service requires viewers to receive ESPN as part of their TV package.

The new service, according to Kafka, will appeal to those who want to watch cable television – sports broadcasts in particular – but do not want to remain tethered to standard cable TV subscription bundles. In October, HBO made a similar announcement that it would makes its HBO Go service available as a standalone product.

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The deal does come with some stipulations. Sling TV will be a "personal subscription service," meaning it can only be used on a a single device at a time, unlike other services like Netflix. For users who want to watch it on a regular television instead of a computer or tablet, a device that connects web TV to televisions, such as a Roku box, will be required.

Local broadcast stations and the broadcast networks will not be available. Nor will Apple TV be included, though Kafka writes that Apple TV users will be able to "mirror" the stream from their iPhone or iPad to their set top.

- Christopher Woody