How to Watch Sling on a Vizio Smart TV

Key Points

• Sling TV is now available on Vizio smart TVs, offering a variety of live channels at a lower cost and with more convenience.
• Older Vizio smart TVs may require a set-top box like Roku or Chromecast to stream Sling TV.
• To sign up for Sling TV, choose a viewing option, select add-ons, enter billing info, or start watching for free.
• To watch Sling TV on a Vizio smart TV, navigate to the SmartCast interface, find the Sling TV app, open it, and choose how to watch.
• Sling TV offers affordable plans with flexible bundles, but prices have been increasing over time.

Cutting out a cable or satellite subscription from your monthly expenses doesn’t mean you have to stop watching live television altogether. This is especially true for Sling users with a Vizio smart TV. When you watch Sling on a Vizio smart TV, you can enjoy a variety of live channels like any cable or satellite plan would offer — all at a fraction of the price and a ton more convenience. Here’s how it’s done, complete with a step-by-step guide to get signed up and start watching today.

Can You Stream Sling on a Vizio Smart TV?

For the longest time, you couldn’t watch Sling TV on your Vizio smart TV. Vizio’s smart interface SmartCast offered support for a whole slew of other streaming services, but Sling was never a part of the mix. That is until Vizio finally added support for Sling TV on its smart interface in January of 2022. After so many years of having to use a Roku or other set-top device to stream Sling on a Vizio, this new development felt like a true miracle.

Now, Sling TV is quickly and easily accessible from the Vizio SmartCast interface. It can be found right alongside rival streamers like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, and other popular apps that have been a part of Vizio’s offerings for far longer than this new kid on the block. However, it should be said that only Vizio smart TVs from 2016 or later can support Sling TV streaming. If your Vizio is older than that, you may not be able to find the Sling app on your TV.

Luckily for those with older Vizios, not all is lost in this scenario. You can still stream Sling on a Vizio smart TV with the help of one of those set-top boxes mentioned above. Whether it be a Roku, a Chromecast, or an Apple TV device, any one of these streaming devices can help you watch Sling on your Vizio. (Albeit in a more roundabout way than those who get to simply switch to SmartCast’s home screen and select the app from there.)

Signing Up for Sling TV

Even with so many IPTV options out there to choose from, Sling remains unique for the sheer number of viewing options it offers. It has multiple subscription options as well as a completely free version, all available through the Sling app on your Vizio smart TV. Here’s how to subscribe and start watching.

To sign up, head to Sling’s website or follow the prompts on the screen upon opening the app. From there, you’ll choose a viewing option. Sling offers a Blue plan, which comes with more news and sports networks, and an Orange plan, which offers more family and entertainment channels. You can also combine the two for Sling Orange & Blue for an additional cost.

Then, choose any add-ons you might want included in your plan. This could be additional movie channels, an added number of sports networks, or another premium add-on on top of your Sling base plan. After that, head to the next screen to check out. Enter your billing info and start watching right away.

To skip the subscription process and start watching for free, bypass the sign-in screen on your Vizio smart TV and select “Stream Free” instead. This will take you past the previous steps and deliver you straight to the Sling Freestream interface. From here, you can start watching dozens of free streaming networks without any monthly fees.

How to Watch Sling on a Vizio Smart TV

Now that you have a better understanding of Sling TV and its relationship with SmartCast, let’s talk about how to watch Sling on a Vizio smart TV. Follow along with the instructions listed below, complete with helpful photos at each step of the way. We’ll show you how to enjoy both the paid and free versions of the app through the glory of SmartCast.

Step One: Hit Input

Power on your TV and hit the INPUT button on your remote. Hit the button repeatedly to cycle through your input options until you find the one that reads “SMARTCAST.” Once you’ve found it, settle on the menu option until the input screen disappears and the interface opens automatically.

Step Two: Find Sling

Once inside the SmartCast interface, navigate through the app until you see a heading that reads “Apps & Inputs.” Then, scroll over until you find the Sling TV app.

Step Three: Open App

Hit the SELECT button on your remote to open the Sling TV app. Then, wait for it to load. It may take a minute or two, depending on your Internet connection speed.

Step Four: Choose How to Watch

After the screen loads, you’ll be given a few different options. You can sign up for a free trial, sign into an existing account, or start streaming for free with Sling Freestream. Choose how you want to watch, then hit the SELECT button to confirm your choice. (Follow the sign-up instructions included above for additional guidance here.)

Step Five: Start Watching

At last, you have officially learned how to watch Sling on a Vizio smart TV. Navigate through the guide until you find something you’d like to watch. (In the above photo, it’s the endless stream of Family Feud episodes available on Freeview.) Enjoy!

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