Consumer electronics juggernaut Samsung released a new report on Thursday that claims the title of the worldwide leader in free, ad-supported streaming telvision (FAST) channels for itself.
At the moment, Samsung phone, tablet and smart TV users in the United States have access to a curated selection of more than 700 FAST content streams through its Samsung TV Plus platform — a count that is higher than any other platform.
Globally, Samsung distributes more than 3,500 FAST channels through Samsung TV Plus, the company said, though that count likely includes duplicate channels across regions.
Whether anyone is watching those channels is something of a mystery: Last year, Samsung claimed it had 88 million global users who watch Samsung TV Plus channels on a monthly basis, though it didn’t specify which channels those users were watching, or for how long.
Samsung also hasn’t released information on which channels perform better than others, though reports in the past indicate that the lions share of FAST viewing is spread across less than two dozen channels.
Nonetheless, Samsung says its FAST audience is growing, with its audience growing by 30 percent during the first three months (Q1) of 2025 when compared to the same time period last year.
Samsung also said its investment in making more on-demand TV episodes and feature films available through Samsung TV Plus has grown its hours viewed by 177 percent on a year-over basis — though, again, the company didn’t say precisely how many hours of content were viewed, or how many hours the typical streamer watches.
There is little reason to doubt that Samsung smart TV users are exposed to Samsung TV Plus on a regular basis: By default, Samsung TV Plus is the first thing that launches when a user first turns on their TV set — and that remains the case until a user goes into their smart TV menu and changes that behavior.
Samsung TV Plus is also supported on the company’s phones and tablets, and a limited amount of content is available to watch through web browsers. But Samsung TV Plus doesn’t activate by default when the phone or tablet screen first turns on, and streamers have to create and use a Samsung account in order to watch Samsung TV Plus through their computers.
Still, Samsung TV Plus offers some content channels that aren’t available on other platforms, including marathon streams that offer classic clips from David Letterman and Conan O’Brien’s CBS, NBC and TBS late night talk shows.
That alone might be driving interest in Samsung TV Plus, and could entice fans of both talk show comedians to buy a Samsung TV over other models — but the company’s hasn’t released any information to this effect, opting instead to prove Samsung TV Plus’ worth with broad-level, percentage-based data that is largely absent of definitive core numbers.
But that hasn’t kept media brands from wanting to do business with Samsung. The company has forged content and advertising partnerships with Comcast’s NBC Universal, the Walt Disney Company, Paramount Global, A+E Global Media, the National Football League and Major League Baseball over the past few years. NBC Universal and Paramount’s Pluto TV distribute their FAST channels on the platform, as do the NFL, MLB, Lionsgate and A+E Global. Disney has offered up some on-demand content and agreed to promote its Disney Plus and Hulu services through Samsung Advertising, which includes spots that run against Samsung TV Plus content and channels.
“With Samsung TV Plus, we’ve transformed what streaming can be by offering premium, personalized entertainment at a scale no other FAST service can match,” Salek Brodsky, the Senior Vice President and General Manager of Samsung TV Plus, said in a statement. “This year, we’re deepening that commitment by delivering even more high-quality content, richer viewing experiences, and greater variety of programming to ensure audiences always have something exceptional to watch.”
