Dish unveils online TV package

The satellite television company Dish plans to offer an online television streaming package early this year. 

The $20 package will feature 12 channels, including ESPN, the Food Network, TBS, CNN and others. It will be unveiled in the “fist quarter of 2015.”

{mosads}The package will allow customers to stream live television through their Internet connection, without purchasing a standard satellite TV subscription. Video on demand content will also be available through the service. 

A number of companies have recently announced over-the-top live streaming services. The Dish announcement appears to be the first to offer sports channels, including ESPN and ESPN2.

The company is branding the package to young people who have foregone standard cable and satellite TV subscriptions, while attempting to maintain its traditional 14 million satellite subscribers. 

Dish hopes to attract millions more customers with the no-contract package, the company’s CEO Joseph Clayton said in a statement. 

“Sling TV provides a viable alternative for live television to the millennial audience,” he said. “This service gives millions of consumers a new consideration for pay-TV; Sling TV fills a void for an underserved audience.”