Jenn Batty Talks Samsung TV Plus Lineup

Jenn Batty, director of content partnerships for Europe and the Middle East at Samsung TV Plus, discussed what’s working for the FAST service and her approach to aligning with IP owners.

Samsung TV Plus is available in 16 European markets and has recently expanded to three Middle Eastern territories. You can watch Batty’s keynote conversation with World Screen’s Kristin Brzoznowski about her programming remit across that footprint here.

“The last year has been really exciting in the FAST industry, with the explosion of new platforms and the quality of the content increasing,” Batty said of the evolution of FAST since her first keynote at the FAST Festival in 2023. A key differentiator for Samsung TV Plus is that it comes preloaded onto Samsung devices, from tablets to phones to TV sets. “We have an audience of loyal users with multiple Samsung devices.”

As for the size of the channel lineup, Batty noted: “We’re not about having hundreds and hundreds of channels. It’s very difficult to find content. We see the sweet spot at 120, 130, 140 channels. Discoverability is key. If you have hundreds of channels, you get a little bit lost.”

Batty stressed the importance of curating a lineup based on each territory’s individual needs. “Something that works in the U.K. might not work in Germany and vice versa. We look across all of the consumption, not just within Samsung TV Plus, to use data to drive our decisions on what we bring forward to our platform. We have sports, news, movie channels, entertainment, comedy, lifestyle—you name it, we have it.”

As for her current remit, Batty said that local content is paramount as Samsung TV Plus drives deeper into individual territories. “We look at ourselves as a global but local business. The strategies are very different in each country. In one country, we might have more of a drive for movies, and in another one, it might be comedy. We’re also looking to try new content. It could be a genre, it could be a TV series, a single IP or a mixed genre. One of the exciting things about FAST channels is that you can have pop-up channels. We will acquire content that we put into our owned-and-operated channels to see how it works. If it’s something that’s popping for us, we can do a pop-up channel. The cost to launch a FAST channel is significantly less than launching a pay-TV channel. Our eyes are open to pretty much anything. We look at and assess each [piece of] content and each title differently and how it would resonate with our audience.”

Brzoznowski asked Batty about the nature and importance of exclusivity in FAST. “We want people to say, I want to watch this because it’s only on Samsung TV Plus,” Batty said. “Exclusivity is important, but it doesn’t have to be every single show or every single channel.”

As for the role of analytics, Batty commented, “As we are the device that you’re watching on, the information that we receive—your viewing patterns, what channels you’re watching, how long you are watching—is overwhelming. We take a step back to look at where user engagement is, where people are coming in and staying.”

On deal types, Batty said the company is working across minimum guarantees, licensee fees and rev-shares. “It depends on the content, the country and the partner. We want to make sure that we are the best partner for our content partners. We want to work with them to make sure that we can have strong deals that benefit both parties.”

Samsung’s multi-device footprint is crucial, Batty continued, noting, “We have that insight into the user journey and what [viewers] are looking for from an experience when you turn on your television or you’re going onto your mobile phone. That gives us a competitive edge.”

Batty then addressed the challenges of discoverability plaguing players in all areas of the ecosystem, from linear free-to-air to SVOD. “We’re lucky with the real estate we have within Samsung TV Plus. We have the home screen where we can shout out about some of the great content that we have. In a majority of the countries that we’re in, especially in Europe, on your remote, there’s a little button that says Samsung TV Plus, so it’s easy to access. We’ve made some product development changes over the last six months, where we introduced tabs on the left-hand side that focus on entertainment and kids’ content. We’re looking to expand that. How can we make it as easy as possible to find things?”