The application Samsung TV Plus, which offers a plethora of free channels, might ultimately be available on TVs made by manufacturers other than Samsung. According to media technology reporter Janko Roettgers, who reports in his Lowpass weekly that Samsung is in discussions to bring its streaming platform to TCL TVs, this is the case.
Samsung TV Plus, which debuted in 2015, is an ad-supported streaming platform that is free to use and preloaded on newer Samsung TVs.
Like with a regular TV subscription, the service allows users to browse a selection of channels. With the addition of popular series, Samsung TV Plus offers a very impressive lineup of content for a free app. Along with Samsung-produced channels, it also provides a selection of regional and national news channels. In addition to 220 networks in the US, TV Plus currently offers about 1,600 channels spread across 24 nations.
While the business has discussed the notion of granting other TV manufacturers a license to use specific channels. As a consequence, Samsung has revised its strategy and is now allowing independent creators to use the entire TV Plus app. Samsung has been extending the availability of TV Plus over time, making the service accessible on the web, Galaxy devices, and even on a few Family Hub refrigerator models.
Other TV makers, such as Vizio, LG, and TCL have their own free streaming services that they compete with, as do other services that aren’t tied to particular TVs, such as Paramount’s Pluto TV, Roku, Amazon Freevee, Fox’s Tubi, and NBC’s Peacock. Although it appears that the company also wishes to make its TV Plus program a free-floating software, it’s not clear whether other makers will want the application on their TVs or even if the show will be a success.
According to Samsung, viewership on TV Plus increased by 100% over the previous year, with 3 billion hours of streaming worldwide. In the meantime, a report from Deadline attests to the expansion of the FAST business as a whole, citing data the outlet acquired from S&P Market Intelligence that shows the US FAST market was predicted to generate approximately $4 billion in revenue last year and might reach over $9 billion by 2026.
Warner Bros. Discovery is one of the businesses closely monitoring the prospects that the FAST sector offers. Even YouTube has been experimenting with a free, ad-supported channel as a potential substitute for individuals who don’t want to pay the escalating expenses of streaming Hulu, Disney Plus, and Netflix but also don’t want cable.