YouTube announced today that it will offer free, ad-supported TV for the first time — a move that puts it in more direct competition with the growing number of free streaming services on the market, including Tubi, Pluto TV, Peacock from The Roku Channel, IMDb TV, Xumo, Plex and NBCU.
The company said it would initially offer more than 4,000 free-to-air TV episodes to its U.S. subscribers, including ” Hell’s Kitchen,” “Andromeda,” “Heartland” and others. It plans to add as many as 100 shows a week to its free streaming collection.
YouTube already has many free, ad-supported movies, so today’s launch of Free TV is more like an extension of its existing free streaming efforts than brand new content for the company.
Currently, YouTube offers more than 1,500 movies from Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution, Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures, Lionsgate, FilmRise and others. For example, this month it added new films like Gone in Sixty Seconds, Runaway Bride and Legally Blonde, among others.
But the broader streaming industry — both ad-supported and subscription-based — tends to favor TV over movies. In previous eras, new original projects were likely to be movies, or at least miniseries, which are now often released as playable shows. Platform makers like this trend, too, because it means users log more time watching content on their services. Talent and funding have long caught up, and TV shows have garnered critical attention and accolades that have tended to be reserved for Hollywood films over the past few years.
Meanwhile, free-to-air TV streaming is now driving much of the growth in the broader streaming market. According to Kantar, 85% of U.S. households have a video subscription, but the quarterly growth comes mostly from free ad-supported TV and ad-supported video-on-demand services.
As of the fourth quarter of 2021, 18% of U.S. households now use at least one free ad-supported TV service — a figure that has more than doubled since the fourth quarter of the previous year. Most of the new users in the final quarter were those who signed up for Peacock, IMDb TV, Tubi and The Roku Channel accounts, Kantar said.
Meanwhile, YouTube also has a significant connected TV footprint in the US, if not free TV. According to Nielsen data, in December 2021, YouTube reached more than 135 million people on connected TV in the United States. But when users search for TV shows on YouTube, it will direct them to rent or buy the relevant titles — free streaming isn’t an option.
That’s changing with the introduction of free-to-air TV services. YouTube says it will now introduce new navigation and immersive banner art to help users choose how they want to watch — either via rental or purchase as before, or free when there are ads. Meanwhile, YouTube said ad breaks will vary in frequency based on viewers and the context in which they watch the show. Most ads are sold through the YouTube Select program.
With the exception of a few well-known shows, many of the shows that are available for free are older series such as Father Knows Best, Unsolved Mysteries, 21 Jump Street, The Carol Burnett Show, That Girl, Car 54, Where Are You, The Lone Ranger, Hopalong Cassidy, Laugh-In, The Dick Van Dyke Show and more. Many free shows only offer 1 or 2 seasons, even if the series runs longer. This library won’t immediately make YouTube the go-to free TV destination, but it can help the average YouTuber relieve the sometimes boredom.
YouTube also notes that many free TV shows are available in HD 1080p and 5.1 surround sound on supported devices. The shows will be available to users in the U.S. starting today through web browsers, mobile devices, and on connected TVs through the YouTube TV app. You can check out the full list of shows at YouTube.com/freeshows.