Samsung has expanded its free TV offering to smart TV owners since 2016. The South Korean company has partnered with Rakuten TV to bring 166 new channels on Samsung TV Plus.

For those of you who do not know, Samsung TV Plus is a free ad-supported video streaming service built into the Samsung Smart TV. While Samsung has a very strong line of streaming apps, including Apple TV, Disney +, Netflix, and more, which are supported on their TVs, most of these apps require paid subscriptions every month. If you have just emptied your wallet on a 4K TV or the new QLED is shiny, it might not have wooed you.

The ability to watch movies and box sets for free is a major feature of Samsung TV. Following the closure of the latest deal with Rakuten TV, TV owners are about to open dozens more channels. In April and May, 166 new channels will be launched in 16 markets across the UK, including Europe, through Samsung’s TV Plus service.

In fact there are many Rakuten TV channels available in the UK, Spain, Germany, France, Italy, Austria and Switzerland. So while viewers in the UK will not see as many newcomers in Sweden and the Netherlands, who have not enjoyed any of these channels and have received a full 166.

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Rakuten is launching her own genres from Rakuten Action, Rakuten Comedy, Drama, Spotlight, Rakuten Documents and Family, as part of the channels’ new barrage. There is also Rakuten Movies and Rakuten Stories – a channel designed to bring original and exclusive Rakuten TV content.

Other international channels, such as AfricanNews, Bloomberg TV, Bloomberg QuickTech and Euronews, are also included in the Samsung Mobile Plus service.

If you want to spend some extra money, Rakuten TV will definitely be happy. Headquartered in Japan, Samsung allows smart TV owners to rent some of the latest Hollywood blockbusters, indie movies and more. Rakuten also provides access to Starzplay, which does not have its own streaming app, but is available on Rakuten, Apple TV and Prime Video.

According to the official announcement, from 2016 you will need Samsung Smart TV to access Samsung TV Plus and new ad-supported channels. You must also live in the United Kingdom, Spain, Germany, France, Italy, Austria or Switzerland.

The decline in new content for Samsung TV Plus is part of a broader push to watch ad-supported channels for free in response to live streaming options such as Netflix and Disney + for £ 10 per month. Known for its easy-to-use set-top boxes, Roku has acquired the rights to several ad-supported Roku channel exclusions that, on its own hardware (obviously), as well as Now and Sky Q boxes Are available.

Meanwhile, the Plex – originally designed to bring its home media to the big screen for viewers – is now also an ad-supported streaming service, which recently featured major Hollywood studio films for the deal. Is characterized by Samsung is the most famous television manufacturer in the world and thus is very well positioned to compete with these competitors.