Google Adds Almost 4,000 Free TV Episodes to YouTube

There’s something new to watch on YouTube today no matter what you’re into. Google has announced the addition of almost 4,000 TV episodes spread across 100 different shows, and they’re free. Instead of ponying up cash every month, you’ll have to sit through ads. Google is far from alone with this approach, but competitors like Pluto TV and Tubi already have a big head start, TechCrunch reports.

Google has struggled to piece together a cohesive TV streaming strategy. For years, it tried to sell videos via the Play Store and in the Google Play Movies and TV app, now known as Google TV. These apps are not even available on most platforms today, but YouTube is almost universal. Google has tried to beef up YouTube’s selection of high-quality TV series by funding original productions, but it recently canned that program after basically ignoring it for years. Instead, it’s now loading YouTube down with free, pre-existing content.

The newly available programs include Hell’s Kitchen, Heartland, Andromeda, 21 Jump Street, The Lone Ranger, and The Dick Van Dyke Show. It definitely skews toward older shows and lower-value content — I don’t think many folks are going out of their way to stream a mediocre 90s sci-fi series like Andromeda, but it’s still one of the most recognizable names on the list. It’s quantity over quality here. This content drop won’t put Google at the forefront of free TV streaming, but it will probably help keep more people in YouTube who might otherwise wander off to one of the other free streamers.

There’s more prestige running a streaming service that produces original content, but that’s not where the money is. Almost all of the growth in streaming media is on the free ad-supported side. Services like IMDb TV and Tubi are seeing big viewer numbers. According to analytics firm Kantar, 18 percent of US households now use at least one ad-supported streaming service, a number that has doubled in the last year. YouTube’s reach allows Google to get this content in front of a lot of eyes, and serving ads is one thing Google knows how to do. Google says the number of ads will vary by user, as well as by the “context” in which you’re watching. However, I’m not seeing any ads currently with a YouTube Premium subscription.

Many of the new free programs are available in 1080p with 5.1 surround sound, and you can watch them on any platform with access to YouTube. That’s anything with a web browser, as well as streaming boxes like the Chromecast, Apple TV, Roku, and even Amazon Fire TV (following a multi-year spat between the companies). Google has a list of all the free shows on a YouTube landing page.

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