Google TV has reportedly expanded its growing, free ad-supported TV or FAST service with the addition of 10 new channels that are now available to viewers in the U.S.
The new channels were added via an update that rolled out last month, and come after eight channels were introduced in March. They can be found under the “live” section in the Google TV interface.
Google TV users will now be able to watch channels such as FilmRise Westers, ION+, Johnny Carson TV, Notoicias Telemundo Ahora, Property & Reno, Real Disaster Channel, Supermarket Sweep, The FBI FIles, World’s Wildest Police Videos and Yahoo Finance, so there’s quite an expansive selection of new content coming their way.
Google has been working hard to expand its free TV offerings, because ad-supported content is a rapidly growing and increasingly more lucrative market. These days, all of the major TV platforms have launched free TV services, with other notable ones being LG’s Channels and Samsung’s TV Plus offerings. They give TV platform providers a nice little revenue stream that goes beyond hardware sales.
Just last month, Google announced it had created a brand new ad platform called the Google TV Network, together with plans to expand the Google TV platform beyond existing brands that already use it, such as Hisense, Sony and TCL. The ad network will also cover content watched on Android devices and through Chromecast. It will provide a way for brands to buy ads and place them in advertising slots across Google’s free TV channels, with new options including unskippable ads that appear before, during and after programs are broadcast.
It’s thought that free TV services are growing in popularity because many people are unable to cough up the fees required to subscribe to video streaming platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+. Lately, those services have all bumped up their subscription fees, so people are on the lookout for alternative, free sources of content, and FAST services are one of the easiest ways to get it. Such services come at the cost of having to sit through ad breaks, but many are willing to tolerate them. As such, it makes sense for Google to want to add more channels and entice more people to watch.
