New Samsung TV Plus Channels in Europe

Samsung Electronics is rolling out a slate of new Samsung TV Plus channels in Europe via partnerships with ZDF Studios and Viasat World, among others.

Samsung TV Plus has strengthened its relationship with ZDF Studios, launching two new channels: Bares Für Rares, around the long-running German antique entertainment program, and ZDF kocht!, which brings together the content of all the ZDF top chefs. While initially available in Germany, the ambition is to expand the partnership between Samsung TV Plus and ZDF Studios to launch up to 20 channels across Europe.

Through a partnership with ITV Studios, the Hell’s Kitchen channel is now available in the DACH region, as well as Norway and Finland. Already available in other Samsung TV Plus markets, the channel features celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay.

Viasat World brings content from three factual brands to Samsung TV Plus audiences in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland. This includes series and documentaries from Viasat Nature, focusing on the places and creatures of the natural world; Viasat Explore, celebrating ordinary people and their extraordinary stories from all around the world; and Viasat History, bringing a fresh look at history, the secrets of the past and how it defines us today.

From Newen comes a channel around the long-running French soap opera Plus belle la vie. Samsung TV Plus viewers in France and Switzerland will be able to catch up on the series ahead of the brand-new season premiere in 2024.

Jennifer Batty, European head of content acquisition at Samsung TV Plus, said: “Almost a decade ago, Samsung saw the huge potential that FAST could have in delivering the best and widest variety of quality content from around the world to our audiences for free, via Samsung TV Plus. And this ambition still drives us today, even as the rest of the industry is catching up to the power of FAST. Being an early adopter, we have the advantage of having one of the largest FAST footprints in Europe and globally. And with that, we have been able to champion some incredible content producers, including European broadcasters. They have found a new home in FAST, extending the reach of their quality content beyond a regional audience. And those audiences have found a new way to access this broadcaster-quality content, all for free. We look forward to continuing our commitment to expanding the content on offer for our Samsung TV Plus European audience and partnering with the best content producers globally to help us do so.”

Dr. Markus Schäfer, president and CEO of ZDF Studios, said: “For ZDF Studios, FAST channels represent an attractive business area with a wide range of growth prospects. In August 2022, for example, the Terra X channel on Samsung TV Plus was launched extremely successfully. We are now looking forward to successively launching 20 more FAST channels across Europe together with our partner Samsung, thus accelerating our FAST growth. We will start in Germany with the formats Cash or Trash and ZDF kocht!, which are ideally suited for FAST channel positioning.”

Graham Haigh, executive VP of global digital partnerships at ITV Studios, said: “We are delighted to extend our Hell’s Kitchen U.S. channel to Germany with Samsung TV Plus. We look forward to bringing the fire and passion of Gordon Ramsay to German audiences in this explosive entertainment channel.”