Google TV is continuing to go hard on free, ad-supported channels (otherwise known as FAST channels) in the US – and it’s just added several more to its home screen to take it past a significant milestone.
As spotted by 9to5Google, Google TV has added an extra 14 channels to its lineup (below), taking its total to 150 channels. As you can see from the list, there isn’t anything quite on the level of BBC Earth, but if you like Billiards or true crime, there could be some comforting time-sinks in there for you.
This ramping up of free channels comes as we head rapidly towards the launch of the Google TV Streamer box, which will go on sale on September 24 for $99 / £99 / AU$159. When that box launches, the free channels will apparently be listed under a new Google TV Freeplay heading.
The new channels follow the addition of 10 new ones at the end of August, which included CBC News, FilmRise Horror, and Rig TV, which is themed around “showcasing the toughest jobs on earth.” Here’s the full list of new channels being added to Google TV’s home screen in the latest push:
- Billiard TV
- Buzzr
- The Rifleman
- Xumo Free Nature & Wildlife TV
- The Conners
- World’s Most Evil Killer
- Untold Stories of the ER
- Xumo Free Bollywood & Indian Cinema
- Ghost Hunters Channel
- Highway to Heaven
- Unspeakable
- Cook’s Country Channel
- Ebony TV by Lionsgate
- FilmRise: The Dick Van Dyke Show
Unfortunately, there’s still no news on when Google TV’s free channels will be coming to the Live tab outside of the US. Hopefully, we’ll hear more about that when the Google TV Streamer lands in a couple of weeks.
If you do live in the US, you can find the channels by heading to the Live tab on the main Google TV interface on your smart TV or Chromecast with Google TV. For a full list of Google TV channels, head to Google’s official list.
The FAST race
Google isn’t the only tech giant embracing free, ad-supported TV – the best free streaming services now include The Roku Channel, Amazon Freevee, and Samsung TV Plus, which runs on Samsung TVs.
We’ve also recently seen Sony One, a collection of 54 FAST channels, land on Samsung TVs, LG TVs, and TiVo Plus. In the UK, a new free, live TV service called Freely launched in April to bring together the country’s major live TV channels in one place.
But there’s no doubt that Google TV is a significant player in the space, particularly with the Google TV Streamer launching soon. Naturally, Google has a new ad network called the Google TV Network, which is rolling out across its TV platform and onto the many devices that support it, including Sony, Hisense, and TCL TVs.
Fortunately, despite the imminent arrival of the Google TV Streamer, Google has said it will continue to update its Chromecast with Google TV dongles. A recent one rolled out a couple of days ago, and a bigger update with Android 14 and Matter support is due later this year.
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mark.wilson@futurenet.com (Mark Wilson)
