Samsung TV Plus Expands its Horizons with Sports, Entertainment and Gaming Pacts

The Samsung TV Plus platform has logged steady growth as a distribution platform for entertainment and lifestyle content during the past five years. Now, the South Korean electronics giant is putting a bigger spotlight on the potential of its device-based footprint, which encompasses more than 630 million TV sets, smartphones and other devices sold across 24 countries.

Samsung Ads hosted a NewFronts presentation April 30 in Midtown Manhattan that vividly demonstrated how the company has expanded the horizons of the Samsung TV Plus platform that is built into the operating system of the company’s devices. The presentation emphasized that Samsung TV sets and smartphones are now portals to a range of video, audio, gaming and data content that plays a huge role in the lives of consumers.

“We really took our cue from the viewers and from the consumers of really understanding what they want,” Michael Scott, VP and head of ad sales and operations for Samsung Ads, told Variety. “Once we saw that there was great appetite there, that our hours of viewing went up, we really leaned in and started making some significant investments in partnerships and in original content as well.”

At present Samsung TV Plus has more than 50 owned-and-operated channels and it has revenue-sharing deals and other partnerships with thousands of other content owners. At last count TV Plus is up to more than 2,600 channels in total.

“This is the largest TV data set in the world,” Scott told the crowd gathered Tuesday at Lavan Midtown. “We have a full 360-degree view of the audience. You can’t get this data anywhere else.”

The company announced new content licensing deals with American Hockey League that will bring live hockey games to Samsung TV Plus’ FAST channel menu for the first time. A deal with Major League Baseball will make replays of MLB and minor league games available on Samsung TV Plus. A new Formula One channel will do the same for races from F1, F2, F3 and Formula 1 Academy throughout the season. Also coming is a PGA-focused golf channel and the MMA-centric One Championship TV.

Samsung TV Plus has also “doubled” the volume of movies and TV programs in its VOD section, according to Takashi Nakano, senior director of content for Samsung TV Plus. Deals with NBCUniversal, A+E Networks and AMC Networks have been fruitful. New channels coming include Barbie-themed offerings from Mattel, the Jim Henson Co. and Moonbug Entertainment. Such partnerships “make us a destination to reach milions of engaged users,” Nakano said.

Samsung TV Plus has a unique audience footprint that has value to advertisers and to brands. Meanwhile, FAST channel licensing has become new form of TV syndication, especially for vintage shows. Samsung TV Plus is a prime partner for content owners, given its reach. Samsung TV Plus has power to drive viewing just by what the company opts to promote on the operating system home page.

Naturally, with that kind of scale, AI is key to managing the volume. Samsung’s has already invested heavily in AI tools for its core hardware businesses.

“AI underpins everything that we do,” said Sang Kim, Samsung’s executive VP of service business, said at the upfront. The company’s investment in AI tools “allows us to push boundaries and deliver a superior home entertainment experience.”

The NewFronts presentation also gave a push to new interactive gaming apps coming to Samsung TV Plus with a demonstration of how Samsung phones work as controllers for the home screen. A new trivia game The Six is designed to be played with Samsung TV remotes, with branding options built in for advertiers.