OTT platforms have gained a lot of traction in the past decade. Following the digital boom, a number of platforms have come up each providing exclusive content with a feature to watch or stream content on the go. While Netflix still dominates the stage, Amazon Prime, Apple TV and Disney + have managed to become household names too. While we are at the subject of OTT (Over The Top) platforms, we came across something surprising yet interesting. Samsung too has launched its Samsung TV Plus streaming service on the web!
:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69563858/TV_Plus_main1.0.jpeg)
Samsung’s streaming service is a web version of it’s free and ad-supported Smart TV Plus, built for live and linear programming as well as added casting support for Chromecast devices. Earlier the streaming product was limited to Samsung TV and mobile devices but it has now been launched as a web service.
According to Protocol: “The web version of TV Plus appears to have soft-launched in May, but has not been publicly announced by Samsung yet and is not mentioned in Samsung’s TV Plus-related marketing materials.” Samsung TV Plus gives “viewers in the U.S. access to around 140 streaming channels, with its lineup including channels like ABC News Live, PBS Kids, ION Plus, Vice and a number of genre-specific Vevo channels. These channels can be accessed by anyone, regardless of whether they own a Samsung device or not, but some channels do require users to sign in with a free Samsung account.” Samsung Electronics SVP Sang Kim during a conversation with Protocol last September said: “We stream billions of minutes every month.“
Currently the service is available on almost 50 million smart TVs worldwide and Samsung has brought the service to mobile phones with an app for its Galaxy devices in 23 countries, including India, Brazil and Mexico, as well as most of Europe.
