Sports fans on a budget can rejoice with Dish’s new streaming service offering all of ESPN for $20 a month.  The satellite provider announced the new service dubbed Sling TV at the Consumer Electronics Show yesterday, happening in Las Vegas this week.

Appealing to more than just sports fans, Sling TV will also include 10 other channels including the Travel Channel, CNN and Food Network plus more at additional fees.

Sound too good to be true?

Recode mentions the drawbacks:  Unlike Netflix or Hulu, Sling TV only works on one device at a time and the service doesn’t offer local broadcast stations or networks. Watching on an actual TV may take a few steps since it’s not being offered on Apple TV because of its strict interface rules.

Dish will be joining the ranks of Sony, HBO and Showtime who also have forthcoming Internet streaming services who are all desperately trying to get back the growing number of “cable-cutters.” The New York Times reports that the number of American households paying for Internet rather than cable subscriptions increased 16 percent in the last two years.  

Will you make the switch? How big of an impact does streaming really have on the cable business?

Guest:

Cecilia Kang, staff writer covering the business of media and entertainment for the Washington Post