Monday, December 23, 2024

Google TV’s free channel count continues rising

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Key Takeaways

  • Google’s FAST channels already offer a wide range of free content, like BBC Food and Love Nature.
  • Users can find the new channels, like Family Feud Classic, Rig TV, FilmRise Horror, and more in the Live tab of Google TV.
  • Newly added channels take Google’s FAST catalog up to 139 channels.



Google’s 2023-introduced FAST (Free Ad-Supported Television) channels are a major win for customers, providing users access to Reuters Now, BBC Food and BBC Food Earth, Top Gear, Love Nature, and more, all without having to download or sign up with any separate application.

The service picked up 10 new channels back in June, and it looks like some new ones are now becoming available to users.

Related

Google TV picks up 10 new free streaming channels

This brings the total to 135 curated FAST channels

In total, Google TV offers access to over 800 ad-supported channels, alongside its own curation of more than 100 FAST channels. Last we counted, Google’s own catalog offered over 130 free channels, up from 80 when it first launched. As part of the update in June, Google TV gained channels like FilmRise Western, ION+, Johnny Carson TV, Noticias Telemundo Ahora, Property & Reno, Real Disaster Channel, Supermarket Sweep, The FBI Files, World’s Wildest Police Videos, and Yahoo Finance.


Now, the newly-added channels push Google’s catalog up to 139. It’s worth noting, however, that according to StreamingBetter (via 9to5Google), some of these new channels started rolling out to users earlier in March, and we might have missed them. To ensure a comprehensive list, we’ve included them here.

  • Family Feud Classic (new)
  • Rig TV (new)
  • Court Legendary Trials
  • Cheaters
  • CBC News & Explore
  • Heartland
  • FilmRise Horror
  • FilmRise True Crime
  • Grit Xtra
  • Laff More


Explore new Google TV channels

Google TV's Live section.

Source: Google

If you want to check out one of the new channels, simply head to the Live tab on your Google TV device and select Google TV under the Free built-in channels section.


Elsewhere, if you’re using a last-gen Chromecast for your free Google TV channel needs, and are prompted to upgrade to the all-new Google TV Streamer, you might wan’t hold onto your Chromecast for a little longer. The last-gen streamers, both HD and 4K, although now discontinued, are expected to “eventually” be upgraded to Android 14. This could bring some functionality of the Google TV Streamer, like call notifications and AI smarts, to the last-gen Chromecasts with Google TV.

Related

Don’t toss your Chromecast yet, it will catch up to the Google TV Streamer’s Android 14 eventually

Down but not out

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