Overview

• Warner Bros. Discovery filed a sealed breach-of-contract complaint in the Southern District of New York seeking injunctive relief and unspecified damages to halt Sling’s Day, Weekend and Week Passes.
• The action follows Disney and ESPN’s similar lawsuit late last month, escalating a coordinated push by major programmers against Sling’s new offers.
• Sling’s passes provide 24-hour, weekend or weeklong access to roughly 34 Sling Orange channels for $4.99, $9.99 or $14.99, including ESPN, TNT and CNN, but exclude Sling Blue networks.
• EchoStar, parent of Dish and Sling, defended the passes as a customer-first, flexible alternative and declined to comment on active litigation as the offers remain available for purchase.
• The complaints argue short-term, a la carte access undermines monthly fee economics and note other distributors have inquired about similar products, signaling potential ripple effects across pay-TV deals.