Budget-friendly streaming service Frndly TV is now available on millions of web-enabled Vizio television sets, the companies announced on Wednesday.
The deal makes Frndly TV and its four dozen linear channels immediately available to around 17 million users of Vizio SmartCast-enabled sets, without the need for a separate streaming box like Roku or Amazon Fire TV.
“This is a seminal moment in the history of Frndly TV,” Michael McKenna, the co-founder and chief programming officer of Frndly TV, said in a statement. “In just three years we have grown to more than 700,000 subscribers and the opportunity to have Frndly TV available to the millions of Vizio smart TV owners, and have our service easily sampled so widely, can only help enhance our appeal to families across America and continue our growth.”
The app joins a growing list of streaming services supported on Vizio TV sets, which include Netflix, Amazon’s Prime Video, Hulu, Disney Plus, Comcast’s Peacock, Paramount Plus, YouTube TV, Sling TV and others.
“The addition of the Frndly TV app to the Vizio lineup provides affordable and accessible family-friendly entertainment for all to enjoy without a costly cable subscription,” Chris Tanquary, the senior director of business development at Vizio, said on Wednesday. “Now millions of Vizio users can access their favorite live programming at a smart price point and all within the Vizio experience.”
Related: Read The Desk’s comprehensive review of Frndly TV
Frndly TV starts at $7 a month and includes access to top-tier cable channels like A&E, Vice TV, History Channel, Hallmark Channel, FYI, Great American Family, Game Show Network and the Weather Channel. It recently added some of the E. W. Scripps’ digital networks, including Ion and Grit, to its line-up.
Frndly TV has three subscription tiers to choose from, all of which contain the same package of channels. The $7 a month plan offers one stream of standard definition video, while the $9 a month plan allows for two simultaneous streams in high-definition and bundles in a cloud DVR that stores recorded shows and movies for 90 days. A premium tier costs $11 a month, unlocks four simultaneous streams and saves recorded programs in the cloud DVR for nine months. A 7-day free trial is available to new customers when they sign up through this link.
The service is also available on Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV and Android TV (Google TV) devices. As of December, Frndly TV had more than 700,000 customers.
