Google might soon bring free TV channels to Google TV

“Free” things sell well, and that is a conclusion many companies have had figured out for a long time now. One area where they are making use of this knowledge is in streaming services.

Companies like Samsung, LG, Roky, and many others, have implemented free TV channels within their platforms, and it has been an enormous success for them. Samsung, for example, claims to stream billions of minutes through its Samsung TV Plus service every month (via Protocol).

That is probably why Google is supposedly also thinking of integrating this business module within their smart TV platform—Google TV. According to Protocol, the search giant has held meetings with several companies to discuss adding free, ad-supported streaming television channels, or FAST for short.

The idea here is to offer a replacement for the now-dated cable TV by bringing in popular free content for users to enjoy. Just like regular TV, FAST will also have ad brakes on-screen graphics, which is why I put “free” at the beginning of this article in quotes.

The new free TV channels will likely join the live TV section in the Google's platform. For now, this section is being used for paid TV services such as Google’s own YouTube TV and others like Sling.

In smart TVs that support Google TV, however, the channels could be bundled with over-the-air programming, accessible through an antenna.

As for when this feature might come out, Google is expected to do an event this October where the new Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro will probably get released, and it might be during that. If not, there is also a chance that free TV channels get announced sometime at the beginning of 2022.

Whatever Google brings, though, will likely increase the popularity of the Google TV platform, at least judging by the considerable success other companies have had after adding their versions.