Google is reportedly in talks with several smaller digital media companies about adding free, ad-supported streaming channels to its YouTube TV service.
According to a new report from The Information, the company is talking with companies including Brat TV, Vox Media and Pocket.Watch about launching channels on the virtual MVPD. By doing so, YouTube could grab more of the ad dollars flowing toward connected TV without adding to the cost of its multichannel service, which currently charges subscribers $64.99 per month.
The latest rumors about YouTube’s ambitions in the free, ad-supported streaming television (FAST) space comes after a September report from Protocol about the company’s plans to add a FAST—similar to Samsung TV Plus, LG Channels, Pluto TV and Tubi—to its Google TV platform.
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According to the report, Google has held discussions with programming partners about building a lineup of linear streaming channels for a service could arrive in early 2022. The company will reportedly package the channels with a live guide on Chromecast devices and on smart TVs, it will serve the channels alongside integrated over-the-air broadcast signals.
Brett Sappington, vice president of research at Interpret, said awareness is still a challenge for most FAST services but likely wouldn’t present much of a hurdle for YouTube.
“YouTube’s existing user base is a clear advantage as a potential FAST competitor. The company could turn on a service, promote it to all of its current viewers and have millions of viewers almost overnight,” he said in an email.
YouTube’s ubiquity would clearly give its potential FAST a huge advantage out of the gate, but that’s not to say there wouldn’t still be challenges. Sappington said ad revenue splits would be an important consideration for networks and other content producers, who may decide that if the splits aren’t fair, then there is not much incentive in partnering with YouTube instead of saving their content for licensing or for their own services.