NEW YORK—Samsung Electronics America, Inc. unveiled a slew of new titles, channels and product features coming to Samsung TV Plus, the TV manufacturer’s free ad-supported TV (FAST) and video on-demand (AVOD) service reaching 24 countries and 535 million devices globally across TV and mobile.
As it unveiled the new features and content, Samsung also reported that Samsung TV Plus has surpassed more than 300 channels in the U.S. and over 2,400 channels globally and that the free streaming platform, which is available on Samsung Smart TVs, Galaxy devices, Smart Monitors, Family Hub refrigerators and on the web, has seen skyrocketing user demand. In the last 12 months, Samsung TV Plus saw more than a 60% increase in year-over-year viewership globally.
In terms of new features, the company said it is rolling out product update 5.2 that will enhance content discovery so users can watch what they want faster and with ease.
“With phenomenal year over year growth and an ever-expanding premium lineup of family-friendly shows, music playlists, news, sports programming and more, Samsung TV Plus has a clear foothold in the FAST landscape,” said Salek Brodsky, senior vice president and general manager of Samsung TV Plus. “We are thrilled to present our catalog of free premium content from the world’s top creators in our new user experience, designed to enable the seamless discovery of the hundreds of channels and thousands of on-demand movies and TV shows available on Samsung TV Plus.”
The product update and new titles will initially be available on Samsung Smart TV models 2019-2023, rolling out later this year through early 2024 to additional Smart TV models and Galaxy mobile devices.
As part of the new home screen and discoverability features, users will have a dedicated kids experience to connect consumers with ‘Best of Kids’ programming across over 20 family-safe channels, kids shows and on-demand movies. The new destination will feature popular new content like Blippi, Barney and Friends, Baby Einstein, Teletubbies, Caillou, The Adventures of Super Mario Bros 3 and Sonic the Hedgehog. Users can also enjoy family favorites like PBS KIDS, Strawberry Shortcake, Slugterra, Moonbug, Ryan and Friends, LEGO™ Channel, Kidoodle.TV and more.
The update will also create a new dedicated music destination where fans can easily discover and enjoy songs and artists spanning over 200 playlists and 40+ channels from partners Vevo, XITE and Stingray. On-demand playlists will cater to a wide range of music tastes in a variety of formats, including: decade-based playlists like ‘90s Country; genre-based playlists like Hip-Hop Icons; and artist-centered playlists for top acts like Beyonce, Ariana Grande, The Weekend, The Rolling Stones, and many more.
In addition to the new Kids and Music destinations, Samsung TV Plus said it continues to grow its offering of blockbuster movies and premium content. It described those new offerings as follows:
- Expanded Fan-favorite “Movie Hub”: Following the success of The Movie Hub, Samsung TV Plus has expanded and refreshed its movie channel offering by adding new channels, Movie Hub West, Movie Hub Action, and Movie Hub Holidays. The new Movie Hub channels will continue to deliver thousands of live and on-demand blockbuster movies like Bridget Jones’s Diary, Collateral, Cruel Intentions, Silver Linings Playbook, The Hurt Locker, Titanic, Gladiator, Imitation Game and more to come.
- The Most Comprehensive FAST News Offering: Samsung TV Plus now offers one of the most comprehensive global, national and local news offerings, including the news you need to know from major news networks including ABC, CBS, CNN, FOX and NBC - as well as top business news networks like Bloomberg TV+, Sky News, Scripps News, Cheddar News, USA TODAY, and Yahoo Finance.
- The Holidays Are Here - Seasonal Preview: With winter fast approaching, Samsung TV Plus is the perfect destination for all holiday-themed entertainment. Spanning genres and channels, users will be able to enjoy titles like Christmas Angel starring Tamera Mowry-Housley, Feliz NaviDAD featuring Mario Lopez, and other favorites from Hallmark Movies & More and Holiday Movie Favorites by Lifetime. Samsung TV Plus will also feature seasonal music video playlists perfect for decking the halls, and Samsung TV Plus’ signature Fireplace 4K channel with a display so crystal clear you’ll think it’s real.
- Diverse Multicultural Entertainment: Samsung TV Plus offers a fast-growing offering of multilingual and multicultural news and entertainment. The service recently launched 10 new first-to-FAST Spanish-language channels from ViX, TelevisaUnivision’s global streaming service, as well as the Ebony TV by Lionsgate channel featuring shows and movies like The Great Debaters starring Denzel Washington and Forest Whitaker; Snitch featuring Dwayne Johnson; Dear White People starring Tessa Thompson; Tyler Perry’s I Can Do Bad All by Myself; Are We There Yet?; and Kevin Hart: What the Fit.
