YouTube Adds 4.000 Free TV Episodes With Ads For The First Time

YouTube is expanding its business by starting to stream free TV shows that have ads. (photo: Germany Photography / Pixabay)

JAKARTA - YouTube has again expanded its business by starting streaming of free TV shows that have scrolling ads in them. It also features hundreds of programs that will be available.

This feature is a move that puts YouTube into the competition with the increasing number of free streaming services on the market. Including its competitors, Tubi, Pluto TV, The Roku Channel, IMDb TV, Xumo, Plex and NBCU's Peacock.

Users will be provided with over 4,000 episodes of free TV shows including Hell's Kitchen starring Gordon Ramsay and others. They plan to expand their free streaming collection to 100 more titles each week, including shows and movies.

The platform is the second most visited site on the web, after its parent company Google. This on-demand service will initially only be available in the United States (US) first. It's not clear whether the company will launch it globally.

Cited from Sky News, Thursday, March 24, YouTube is already home to a number of free, ad-supported movies. Today's free TV launch is more of an expansion of its existing free streaming efforts, rather than something new for the company.

Currently, YouTube has streamed more than 1.500 films from companies such as Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution, Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures, Lionsgate, FilmRise, and others.

Like this month, YouTube has just added films including Gone in Sixty Seconds, Runaway Bride, and Legally Blonde.

YouTube cites Nielsen's ranking of over 135 million people on smart television in the US by 2021. However, one of the most disturbing aspects of tech giants like Google and Facebook is the amount of advertising spend they earn from print and legacy media.