Comcast and Dish Network team up to offer Sling International on Xfinity X1

By Kris Wouk April 6, 2018

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Comcast and Dish Network may be competitors in the pay TV market, but it doesn’t mean that the companies won’t work together when the deal serves each of their interests, and it seems like a major win for their customers as well. On Thursday, April 5, the Dish-owned streaming service Sling TV announced that Sling International has launched on Comcast’s Xfinity X1 platform.

Sling International offers multicultural content in 21 languages from nearly 400 international networks, with packages starting at $10 per month. Languages available via the service include Arabic, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Marathi, Kannada, Punjabi, Urdu, Bangla, Bengali, Brazilian, French, Italian, German, Polish, Vietnamese, Cantonese, Taiwanese, Mandarin, and English.

Existing Sling International customers will find getting started on the X1 set-top box easy. Just select the newly added Sling International app from the Featured or Entertainment sections in the Apps menu, then sign in with your Sling credentials. Getting to the app is even easier with the voice remote: all you need to do is say “Sling International” into the remote and you’re there. If you’re a Comcast Xfinity customer but are new to Sling International, signing up is easy, as you can do so through the app.

Though it may seem a bit of a shock to see these two companies cooperating, it has actually been a long time coming. The groundwork was laid in 2016, when the two firms first inked a deal. At the time, the plan was to offer all of Sling TV via the X1 platform, but so far, that has not come to pass. This move does seem to indicate that we will eventually see Sling TV on the X1 platform, but it’s anyone’s guess when this may be.

This also points to why this deal is happening. Comcast wants X1 to be an all-in-one entertainment destination for its customers, even if it means working with companies that it competes with in other areas of its business. Netflix, YouTube, and Pandora are some of the other services available on the X1 platform.

If this news leaves you wanting to know more about Sling TV, be sure to take a look at our guide to everything you need to know about the service.

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Kris Wouk is a tech writer, gadget reviewer, blogger, and whatever it's called when someone makes videos for the web. In his…

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