ZDF Studios Expands FAST Channel Lineup

October 11, 2023 Mansha Daswani

Samsung TV Plus and ZDF Studios are partnering for the launch of 20 FAST channels in Europe, beginning with the rollout of Bares für Rares (Cash or Trash) and ZDF kocht! in Germany.

The two channels arrive on Samsung TV Plus today (October 11), joining ZDF Studios’ Terra X on the platform. Samsung TV Plus is pre-installed on around 10 million Samsung smart TV sets in Germany.

Bares für Rares (Cash or Trash), an afternoon show about art and curiosities with host Horst Lichter, continues to be a ratings winner on ZDF. ZDF kocht! features highlights from the cooking shows Küchenschlacht (Kitchen Battle), Topfgeldjäger (Money Meals), Stadt, Land, Lecker and Kerners Köche.

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Terra X has been on Samsung TV Plus since the summer of 2022, delivering nature documentaries, adventure, history, travel and expeditions. ZDF Studios is expanding the content lineup to include the science show Maithink X; Jahr100, Mirko Drotschmann’s documentary series about the first century AD; and Unsere Kontinente (The Six Continents Revealed).

Alex Hole, VP at Samsung Europe, noted: “It has been our goal from the beginning to establish Samsung TV Plus as a premium provider for FAST programs. The cooperation with ZDF Studios is a milestone in our programming history. Content is king in the highly fragmented FAST environment, and the cooperation with ZDF Studios allows us to offer our TV viewers new premium content in the entertainment and documentary genres.”

Dr. Markus Schäfer, president and CEO of ZDF Studios, adds: “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 launching 20 more FAST channels equally successfully across Europe together with our partner Samsung, thus accelerating our FAST growth. We’ll start in Germany with the formats Bares für Rares and ZDF kocht!, which are ideally suited for FAST channel positioning.”