Sling TV Launches on Android TV, Adds ESPN Desportes

Sling TV, the online TV subscription service that targets cord cutters as its core audience, officially launched on Google’s Android TV devices Thursday. The new Sling TV app for Android TV is available on the Google Nexus Player, streaming devices and game consoles made by Razer and NVIDIA and Android TVs from Sony and Sharp.

Sling also added ESPN Desportes to its lineup of channels. The Spanish-language sportscaster is now available as part of what Sling calls the Desportes Extra add-on pack — a small bundle of Spanish-language sports channels that also includes Univision Deportes and beIN Sports en Español. The sports package costs $5 a month, but requires consumers to also subscribe to Sling’s $20 a month base package.

Dish launched Sling TV as an online-centric TV subscription service in January to target cord cutters and what executives have called cord-haters — people ready to say goodbye to their traditional pay TV service but not willing to give up on key channels like ESPN and HBO.

Sling TV hasn’t released any customer numbers yet, but Dish CEO Charlie Ergen said during a recent earnings call that he expects the service to eventually “generate meaningful revenue for the company.”

Related stories

Google Launches First Android TV Set-Top: Nexus Player

Google Unveils Android TV Platform, with Sony, Sharp and Netflix Among Partners

Android TV: Why Google Needs a Second Path to Television

Get more from Variety and Variety411: Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Newsletter