Andrew Heinzman
Google TV could be the latest platform to offer live TV channels for no extra charge. As reported by Protocol, these channels will likely appear in Google TV’s “Live” tab alongside services like Sling and YouTube TV, providing a seamless experience between free and paid live TV services.
Any free TV channels offered by Google TV will contain ads, mimicking the format set by Roku, Samsung, Amazon, and Vizio. These channels may be duplicates of what’s already offered by services like Pluto TV (a common strategy), though Google could try to create unique channels for its platform.
There’s a decent chance that Google will announce the free channels this October during its Made By Google Pixel 6 launch event. Of course, details are slim, and Google could wait until sometime in 2022 to debut its free channels. (A third possibility—this is just a rumor and Google TV won’t offer free channels.)
If Google launches any free channels, they may be exclusive to the Google TV platform. That’s bad news if you own an Android TV device, but good news if you own a Chromecast or a Sony or TCL smart TV running Google TV.
Source: Protocol via Android Police
