Free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) service Plex has expanded its content offering by 25 channels, with a large portion coming from partner FilmRise.
Of the 25 new additions, FilmRise is the partner for 16, including several FilmRise-branded channels. Some of the new channels include The Dick Van Dyke Show, 21 Jump Street and Forensic Files. In addition to single-series IP channels, there are also topic or genre-focused additions, such as Anime, British TV, FilmRise Kids, FilmRise Sci-Fi, and FilmRise Western, among others.
Cinedigm (which just rebranded to Cineverse) is also in the mix, providing its Screambox TV FAST channel. Screambox is focused on horror, offering exclusives, originals, movies and TV shows, which are available on Plex in the U.S. and Canada. Amagi Plus, meanwhile, provided Pac-12 Insider, featuring free live events, originals and classic games from the conference.
Other content partners include Nosey, ElectricNow and MyTime Movie Network.
Plex touts more than 25 million global users and its free streaming TV service offers over 300 live channels and 50,000 TV and movie titles on-demand. Plex’s app is available across a variety of platforms, such as Apple TV, Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, Google TV, Roku, as well as other smart TVs and mobile devices.
One of several competing in the FAST space, Plex itself got a distribution bump earlier this year when Google TV integrated access to the service on its smart TV platform, housed with other free content under a “Live’ TV tab.
And while there doesn’t seem to be a shortage of content on FASTs, Scott Olechowski, Plex co-founder and chief product officer, in April said that it hasn’t reached the point of saturation yet but instead is “forcing everyone to up their game on the content.”
Olechowski noted that it’s a very virtuous circle, but did acknowledge that “at some point, it’s too much content” and platforms need to help guide users to it. The product chief went on to say that’s one of the key issues Plex is funneling resources into in terms of helping people discover content, leaning on app data to power recommendations and enhance discovery.
“It’s possible, depending on how these interfaces evolve, that we never saturate,” Olechowski said during the NAB Show Streaming Summit in April.