By Shalini Ramachandran 

Dish Network Corp. unveiled a new $20-a-month version of its Sling TV streaming service that will include channels from 21st Century Fox for the first time, setting up a more robust competitor to traditional pay TV.

The new package, which launched Wednesday in beta, will allow for three simultaneous streams on different devices in hopes of better catering to families with multiple viewers. It will be anchored by Fox channels like FX, Fox's regional sports networks and the Fox broadcast network in select markets initially, with more affiliates to be signed up over time. It will also have on-demand programming from shows like "Empire" as well as the full library of "The Simpsons."

Sling TV was first introduced more than a year ago as a skinny bundle of select channels, touted as a cheaper option for consumers without traditional pay-TV subscriptions who still want some live TV. The new Fox-anchored package with multiple streams is separate from the original basic version of Sling that included channels from Walt Disney Co. but only allows one stream at a time.

Several other big programmers that are in the single-stream service will also be part of the multi-stream offering, including AMC Networks Inc., A&E Networks, Time Warner Inc.'s HBO and Turner channels, Scripps Networks Interactive Inc., EPIX and Univision Communications.

The main catch to the new option? No channels from Disney.

That's in contrast to the other version of Sling TV that Dish has been peddling for more than a year now, which has at its core Disney-owned channels like ESPN but only allows one stream at a time. Dish will continue to sell that $20-a-month option to customers, but it will remain devoid of Fox channels. People can buy both options if they want.

The new option may be attractive to local sports fans and NFL lovers, since it'll include Fox channels like YES Network, which airs the Yankees; Fox Sports 1; as well as the Fox broadcast network, which airs a big lineup of NFL games. Fox noted that Sling TV also now offers a streaming alternative for Comcast Corp. subscribers, who haven't been able to watch YES for months amid a carriage dispute in the Northeast.

But the new package won't be a complete sports solution since Disney's ESPN resides in the other version of Sling TV. Additionally, two major media companies with big sports properties, CBS Corp. and Comcast's NBCUniversal, still haven't done deals with either version of Sling TV.

The two different Sling TV packages set up a "Hunger Games" of streaming, pitting Disney against Fox. Fox had long resisted signing on to Sling TV because it was insisting on carriage of all its networks, including its regional sports channels, while Sling TV had wanted to keep its package slim and affordable. Fox executives were also not thrilled about how Sling TV relegated broadcast networks like ABC and Univision to a premium add-on tier, as opposed to keeping them in the basic package.

Disney, on the other hand, had been fine with Sling TV carrying just its few main channels -- ESPN, ESPN 2, ABC, Disney Channel and Freeform -- because it makes the majority of its carriage fees from those channels. It had been loath to grant Dish "multi-stream" rights, however, for fear of risking cannibalizing the lucrative pay-TV business, according to people familiar with its thinking.

It had even negotiated the right to terminate its deal if Sling TV attracted more than two million subscribers, among other conditions, The Wall Street Journal previously reported. In February, the Journal reported that Sling TV had more than 600,000 subscribers.

For now, Disney's and Fox's channels will be separate packages through Sling TV. Eventually bringing Disney's networks into the multi-stream offering would most certainly shrink Sling TV's profit margin if it were to maintain its $20 price. Dish is likely to seek to bring Disney into the multi-stream offering, a person familiar with the matter said, though it is unclear if Disney even wants to be on it.

Write to Shalini Ramachandran at shalini.ramachandran@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 13, 2016 08:48 ET (12:48 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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