Samsung TV Plus

Samsung TV Plus is a free, ad-supported streaming television (FAST) service operated by Samsung Electronics, the South Korean consumer-electronics giant. Rather than a subscription video service, TV Plus is built as a linear channel grid: users open it on a Samsung smart TV, Galaxy phone or tablet, or the web and browse a programme guide of hundreds of themed channels covering news, sports, movies, entertainment, music, lifestyle and children's content. Because it is free and preinstalled, it functions as a built-in part of Samsung's Tizen-based smart-TV platform rather than a standalone app that consumers must seek out. The service launched in 2015 as a modest set of channels on Samsung smart TVs, initially in South Korea and then the United States, and expanded internationally over the following years into Europe, Latin America, India, Australia and Southeast Asia. Its growth tracked the wider rise of the FAST category, in which television makers and media companies offer ad-funded linear channels to cord-cutters who want free viewing without a subscription. TV Plus competes in that space with services such as Pluto TV, Tubi, Roku Channel and LG Channels, and differentiates itself mainly through deep integration with Samsung hardware and the Tizen operating system. Commercially, TV Plus is an advertising business. Samsung sells inventory across its channel line-up and uses the service to strengthen the value of its televisions and to capture a share of connected-TV ad spending. The channel catalogue mixes licensed film and television libraries, music-video channels, news feeds and niche interest channels, and Samsung has added exclusive and branded channels over time. The service is available on Samsung TVs from a certain generation onward, on Galaxy devices, and via a web player, and Samsung has also extended it to some third-party platforms. Samsung TV Plus is not a separately listed company; it is a product brand inside Samsung Electronics, which is listed in Seoul and is the flagship company of the wider Samsung Group. Its management sits within Samsung's visual display and services organisation. For the brand knowledge base, TV Plus is best understood as a platform brand in the streaming and interactive-media space: a free, ad-supported television service whose distribution advantage comes from being embedded in one of the world's largest installed bases of smart TVs.

Samsung TV Plus was introduced by Samsung Electronics in 2015 as a free streaming feature on its smart televisions. At launch it was a relatively small offering of linear channels, and Samsung positioned it as a way for TV owners to watch something immediately without a subscription or an antenna. The initial rollout centred on South Korea and the United States, the two markets where Samsung's television business was strongest and where the company first built relationships with content partners. Over the following years the service expanded geographically. Samsung pushed TV Plus into Europe, Latin America, India, Australia and parts of Southeast Asia, localising channel line-ups for each market with regional news, sports and entertainment feeds alongside international movie and music channels. This expansion coincided with the broader emergence of the FAST (free ad-supported streaming television) category, in which platforms such as Pluto TV, Tubi and the Roku Channel built large audiences by offering linear, ad-funded channels to viewers leaving traditional pay-TV. A key strategic step was integration. Because TV Plus is built into Samsung's Tizen smart-TV platform, it appears on the home screen of millions of sets and requires no download or account. Samsung extended the service to its Galaxy smartphones and tablets and to a web player, widening reach beyond the living room. The company also added branded and exclusive channels and curated themed line-ups, and it built an advertising business around the service, selling inventory to advertisers seeking connected-TV audiences. Samsung has continued to evolve TV Plus as part of its broader services strategy, in which the company monetises its installed base of devices through advertising, content and software rather than hardware alone. The service has been positioned alongside Samsung's other platform efforts on Tizen and its smart-TV ecosystem. As competition in FAST intensified, TV Plus leaned on its distribution advantage — being preinstalled on one of the world's largest bases of smart TVs — while investing in content partnerships and channel variety. No public record in the supplied evidence documents specific launch dates, channel counts or financial figures for TV Plus, so this history is limited to the well-established outline of the service's origin, international expansion and role within Samsung's platform strategy.

• 2015

  Samsung Electronics launches Samsung TV Plus as a free streaming channel service on its smart TVs.

• TV Plus expands from South Korea and the United States into Europe, Latin America, India, Australia and Southeast Asia.

• Samsung extends TV Plus to Galaxy smartphones and tablets and to a web player.

• Samsung builds an advertising business around TV Plus inventory as the FAST category grows.

A free, ad-supported linear streaming service embedded in Samsung smart TVs and Galaxy devices, positioned as a no-subscription alternative to paid streaming and a connected-TV advertising platform.

• Samsung TV Plus linear channel service

  Free ad-supported linear channels delivered through Samsung smart TVs and devices.

• Samsung TV Plus mobile app

  App bringing the TV Plus channel line-up to Galaxy phones and tablets.

• Samsung TV Plus web player

  Browser-based access to the TV Plus channel line-up.

• Unconfirmed

  Reported2026.08.07

  Samsung and Google introduce Eclipsa Audio[2]Samsung 与 Google 推出 Eclipsa Audioeprice.com.hk

  Samsung and Google jointly developed the Eclipsa Audio spatial-audio format, and Samsung's visual display division commercialized the technology through Samsung TV Plus.

• 2021.03.31

  Reported2021.03.31

  Samsung launches TV Plus service in India[3]三星在印度推出TV Plus服务themobileindian.com

  Samsung announced and launched Samsung TV Plus in India, offering free ad-supported live channels and on-demand videos. The service was immediately available on Samsung Smart TV models from 2017 to 2021, with 27 global and local channels.

• Unconfirmed

  Reported2020.12.03

  Samsung TV Plus launched in Australia[4]Samsung TV Plus在澳大利亚上线mumbrella.com.au

  Samsung TV Plus, Samsung’s free ad-supported TV streaming service, launched in Australia and was available to owners of eligible Samsung Smart TVs.

• Unconfirmed

  Wurl expands into the European market through Samsung TV Plus[5]Wurl通过Samsung TV Plus拓展欧洲市场advanced-television.com

  Wurl expanded into the European market through an agreement to deliver programming and advertising to Samsung’s TV Plus streaming service in Europe.

Read more

1. 1Samsung TV Plus official sitesamsung.com
2. 2Samsung 与 Google 推出 Eclipsa Audioeprice.com.hk
3. 3三星在印度推出TV Plus服务themobileindian.com
4. 4Samsung TV Plus在澳大利亚上线mumbrella.com.au
5. 5Wurl通过Samsung TV Plus拓展欧洲市场advanced-television.com
6. 6Samsung TV Plus Launches in India; Now Watch Select Free Channels on Samsung Smart TVs without a Cable Connection - Samsung Newsroom Indianews.samsung.com