Walking Dead set for Dish OTT service

Dish TV’s disruptive new OTT service Sling TV has bolstered its fledgling programming slate with the likes of The Walking Dead after closing a deal with AMC Networks.

The multi-streaming rights deal will see AMC programming from the flagship AMC channel, plus BBC America, BBC World News, IFC, SundanceTV and WE tv offered both live and on-demand.

Sling TV launched yesterday, offering channels and programming from the likes of Disney Channel, Cartoon Network, TNT, TBS, Food Network, Adult Swim and ESPN for US$20 a month.

Content packaged in the deal includes AMC’s biggest hit, The Walking Dead, which returned to linear TV on Sunday evening in the US and internationally via Fox last night.

Mad Men and other key AMC shows will also run on Sling, along with BBC America, IFC and SundanceTV originals.

The content and channels will be included in Sling’s ‘Best of the Live TV’ package, with a roll out announced in coming weeks.

Sling TV is satellite pay TV operator Dish’s answer to challenges from on-demand platforms such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Instant Video, and represents one of the first times a linear TV provider has launched an OTT service in the US.

Dish will hope the AMC deal drives customers away from SVOD-only platforms.

“Soon Sling TV will deliver hits like The Walking Dead and Mad Men with AMC included in our core package,” said Sling TV’s CEO, Roger Lynch. “We found a great partner in AMC Networks with a wide range of popular channels to help us quickly make that a reality.”