Sling’s free streaming DVR puts Tubi and Pluto on notice

Of all the questions I get about cord-cutting, the most common is about DVR and whether you can record from streaming services. Generally there are two answers:

• Cable replacement services such as YouTube TV do include cloud-based DVRs, so you can record programs and skip commercials.
• Other streaming services such as Netflix don’t allow for DVR at all, at least not without elaborate workarounds such as Channels DVR or PlayOn.

Sling TV has just introduced a third outcome: Its Freestream service is getting a 10-hour DVR that that works with hundreds of free streaming channels. That makes Freestream the first free, ad-supported service to let you skip through the ads. With so many free streaming options and so little to distinguish them, the ability to record feels like a breakthrough.

How to get Sling’s free DVR

Some quick background: Freestream is a free version of Sling TV with a different channel lineup than Sling’s paid service. You won’t get any regular cable channels such as ESPN or HGTV, but the lineup does include local news, movies, and a wide range of entertainment channels. You’ll even find some offbeat sports, such as cornhole and pickleball (albeit mostly on replay).

Until now, Freestream offered little to stand out from other free TV services such as PlutoTV, Tubi, and the Roku Channel. The only way to record Freestream content was by signing up for a full Sling TV subscription, which starts at $40 per month (and does include actual cable channels).

This week, Sling has opened up Freestream’s DVR to anyone who creates a new Sling account, and it’s rolling out the DVR to existing users over the next “several months.” If you’d rather not wait, creating a new Sling account with a secondary or masked email address should do the trick.

How Freestream DVR works

Once you have Freestream’s DVR feature, it’ll work just like that of Sling proper. You can record individual episodes or set up recordings, and they’ll appear in Sling’s DVR section, where you can also manage future recordings and free up storage space.

To my delight, the DVR doesn’t have any restrictions on ad skipping, and it shows a visual preview while fast forwarding, so you can tell when commercial breaks are over. You can even play recordings that aren’t finished yet and skip through ads to catch up with the live airing.

The only downside is that you can’t buy more than 10 hours of DVR storage without a $40-per-month Sling TV subscription, which expands the DVR to 50 hours. I’ve asked Sling if this might change in the future.

One more caveat: If you upgrade from Freestream to a paid Sling subscription, you won’t get the half-price for one month deal that Sling usually offers new customers. Those who want Sling’s cable lineup should skip Freestream altogether or spin up a new email address to get that discount.

Will other free streamers follow?

It’s hard to imagine most other free streaming services following Sling’s lead with DVR features. Services such as Tubi and Pluto are entirely dependent on ad revenue and have little to gain from helping viewers skip commercials. If anything, streamers are trying to push people away from commercial-free viewing as they discover how profitable the TV ad business can be.

Sling, however, sees Freestream as a funnel for its subscription offerings, whose content appears on the Freestream home screen as a way to entice you into upgrading. The DVR feature itself is a gateway to Sling’s broader offerings, which explains why it’s not selling extra DVR time without a full subscription.

It’s not alone in eying this strategy, though. Philo has also experimented with a free version of its service with DVR for some customers, though the company says it has nothing to share about bringing it to a larger audience.

In any case, the DVR feature suddenly makes Freestream much more compelling, and the ability to skip ads is great to see as more streamers move in the opposite direction.

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