YouTube is experimenting with free ad-supported TV channels

According to The Wall Street Journal, YouTube is developing a hub of ad-supported TV channels that viewers can watch for free, and it might include programmes from Lionsgate and A&E.

According to a person familiar with the situation, YouTube is in negotiations with numerous entertainment organisations about featuring their material on the free channel hub. The concept is now being tested with a small group of media partners.

YouTube’s free ad-supported channel hub might become more widely available in 2023.

The news comes as rival streaming services, such as Disney + and Netflix, prepare to launch free ad-supported subscriptions.

This isn’t the first time YouTube has experimented with ad-supported television programmes. The streaming portal started free ad-supported TV programming for US consumers in March 2022.

Andromeda, Hell’s Kitchen, and Kitchen Nightmares are among the notable series accessible on the YouTube web app, mobile app, and compatible smart TVs.

The episodes joined the roughly 1,500 free movies featured on the network, and YouTube altered its user interface significantly to reflect this by introducing a new tab named “Movies and Shows”.

YouTube TV, which features live channel feeds from ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, ESPN, Fox Sports Networks, and Comcast SportsNet, was released in select US locations in 2017 for $35 per month.

Since then, the service’s prices have risen, and it momentarily lost access to Disney-owned networks such as ESPN and ABC when the two firms’ agreement ended at the end of 2021.

YouTube introduced a variety of ad-supported programmes in May 2017.

“With these new shows, brands can be a part of content that’s generating buzz around the world,” it said.

It aired the following programmes at the time:

• Ellen’s Show Me More Show
• Good Mythical Morning
• Kevin Hart: What the Fit?
• I Am: Demi Lovato
• Best.Cover.Ever.
• The Super Slow Show
• Katy Perry Live Special

By 2018, the firm has reduced its investment on Hollywood-produced original content in favour of a greater emphasis on YouTube-native producers.