Samsung has quietly launched a free, web-based version of its ad-supported video streaming service Samsung TV Plus. 

The service was previously only accessible through Samsung TVs, smartphones and tablets via an application. However, the unheralded launch of Samsung TV Plus as a web service during the second quarter means it can now be accessed on just about any TV, smartphone or computer, giving it a much wider potential audience to tap into. 

To access Samsung TV Plus, open up any browser on your device and punch in www.samsungtvplus.com. So long as you live in one of the 23 supported countries, that URL will take you directly to the online portal, which displays a list of channels that are separated according to genre, such as comedy, crime, entertainment, food, gaming, international, movies, music, news, sci-fi and more. 

As mentioned, Samsung TV Plus is an ad-supported service which means its entirely free to use. It offers access to hundreds of channels, with some of the better known ones including ABC News Live, Bloomberg TV+, Hallmark Movies & More, Impact Wrestling, Love Nature 4K, Nick Pluto TV, Paramount Movie Channel, PBS Kids and Weather Nation.

In April this year Samsung was able to expand the Samsung TV Plus catalogue quite enormously by forging a partnership with Rakuten TV that added a whopping 166 new channels. 

The barrage of Rakuten channels included several that cover specific genres, such as Rakuten Action, which shows action movies, and Rakuten Comedy, Rakuten Drama, Rakuten Documentaries and Rakuten Family, which are all pretty self-explanatory. Samsung TV Plus can also access premium Rakuten original offerings, though they’re not freebies. 

Protocol, which first reported on the availability of the web-based service, said Samsung refused to comment other than to acknowledge that it is indeed now available to anyone. It’s therefore not immediately clear why Samsung opted for a soft launch instead of a bigger announcement. Nonetheless, it means Samsung is entering a hotly contested market for free video streaming services, including fellow ad-supported offerings such as Peacock and the Roku Channel.

With such a crowded marketplace, Samsung TV Plus is unlikely to emerge as the most dominant free TV streaming platform but there’s no reason to believe the company can’t make money out of it by bringing it to a wider audience. If that’s the aim, then a logical next step might for Samsung would be to create dedicated apps for the service on Android, iOS, tvOS and other platforms in order to expand its reach further. Let’s wait and see.