KOLKATA: India’s online video ecosystem has seen exponential growth in the last couple of years, especially after the pandemic. All the tech, media, and electronic giants are eying to capitalise on the booming OTT space.
Samsung is the latest addition to the list, with the launch of Samsung TV Plus, a service which offers its smart TV users free TV content, as well as ad-supported select live channels and on-demand videos, with no additional device such as a set top box. To access the service, all that the consumers will need is a Samsung Smart TV (2017 model onwards) and an internet connection.
With the introduction of TV Plus, consumers will get instant access to exciting content across genres such as news, lifestyle, technology, gaming and science, sports and outdoors, music, movies and bingeable shows, without any subscription.
TV Plus will also be available on most Samsung Galaxy smartphones and tablet devices with O OS or higher software version. Services for Galaxy smartphones are expected in April 2021. The TV Plus app can be downloaded from both the Samsung Galaxy Store and Google Play Store.
The innovative service is being introduced keeping in mind the change in consumer behaviour during the pandemic led lockdown period, when consumers, especially millennials and Gen Z, began to explore their televisions more and more for new and exciting content. In India, Samsung TV Plus will immediately be live across all Smart TV models from 2017 to 2021 and users will be able to access 27 global and local channels. More partners will be on-boarded soon to make the service more robust.
“Over the last one year, consumers have been spending more time at home. Their television sets and smartphones have become the centers of their lives, for both entertainment as well as information. We also noticed that consumers now immensely value great media content, the reason why we chose to introduce Samsung TV Plus in India. Over the next few months, we expect to scale TV Plus to add more channels and content,” Samsung India services director Reshma Prasad Virmani said.
Samsung is India’s top brand of televisions for over a decade and offers a range of smart TVs, ranging from Rs 18,900 to Rs 15,79,900.
With the launch in India, Samsung TV Plus is now available in 14 countries including the US, Canada, Korea, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, UK, Italy, France, Spain, Australia, Brazil and Mexico.
