Dish Network is trying to please cord-cutters by tempting them to keep the cord.
The satellite TV company is offering a "skinny" version of its traditional TV package for about half the price of its current plans.
The service is the new "Flex Pack skinny bundle," a plan advertised at $39.99 that comes with 50 channels and the option for one of eight themed channel packs. But subscribers can bring the new service down to $29 by forgoing any add-ons.
That's compared to existing Dish service, which starts at $54.99 a month. Dish's average revenue per user came in at about $90 in the second quarter of 2016.
Cable and satellite TV providers have been working to offer cheaper options that cut down on the bloated and expensive packages that helped make the industry one of the most lucrative in all of U.S. media.
Verizon added a "custom TV" plan at $64.99 a month, $10 cheaper than its traditional plan but pricier than Dish's newest entry. Comcast has introduced a streaming TV service for $15 a month.
Fifteen percent of all Americans have cut the cord to paid cable or satellite subscription TV service, according to the Pew Research Center's Home Broadband 2015 survey. Among young adults ages 18 to 29, 19 percent have cut the cord and 16 percent never had cable TV in the first place.
“Our customers are frustrated with having to pay for hundreds of channels, most of which they never watch,” Warren Schlichting, Dish executive vice president of marketing, programming and media sales, said in a press release. “Flex Pack provides a level of flexibility and control that brings our customers closer to the ideal of fully tailoring their channel lineup.”
The eight themed add-ons cover groups of channels for news, kids' programming, sports and even a variety pack.
But the big news is that the broadcast networks are now an add-on as part of the "locals pack." The core package of 50 channels instead includes AMC, TNT, USA, HGTV, E!, Cartoon Network, History, A&E, CNN, Discovery, TBS, Food Network, FX, TV Land and other cable channels.
That's a big shift for the satellite provider, especially compared to traditional cable, where offering cable channels as a "basic" package over broadcast would be unheard of. Verizon's cheapest TV plan, for example, is a $10-a-month basic option with only local channels.
Helping to cut down the cost is the separation of sports channels. Subscribers who don't choose the sports package won't be subsidizing the most expensive cable channels, like ESPN, with their own plans.
A $29 monthly bill is very low for TV, but of course still costs more than a $9.99 Netflix subscription or a $7.99 Hulu plan. Dish Network also offers the streaming service Sling TV for $20 a month.
