Amazon Launches New ‘Fire TV Channels’ App, Bringing FAST Experience to Fire TV Devices – The Streamable
Amazon customers now have even more free content to watch. The company has announced the creation of a new streaming app for users of Amazon Fire TV devices called the “Fire TV Channels” app. Users will find Fire TV Channels already available on their Fire TV-branded smart TV or streaming device, so no downloads are necessary.
Fire TV Channels is a new repository for free ad-supported TV (FAST) channels, and houses over 400 of them. Content from ABC News, Fox Sports, Funny or Die, GameSpot, The Hollywood Reporter, Looper, and much more is available with the new app, and Amazon says it’s “always adding more.”
To watch the Fire TV Channels app, users need only ask Alexa to “Play Fire TV Channels” and start streaming immediately. Alternatively, the Fire TV Channels app is available via the “Your Apps and Channels” screen or can be found embedded in content rows throughout the Fire TV user interface.
Preview the New Fire TV Channels App:
The Fire TV Channels app will serve as a complement to Amazon’s other free streaming platform Freevee. That service is more focused on on-demand content, especially original series. The Fire TV Channels app is all about the live experience, meaning users can simply switch on whichever of the hundreds of channels available on the service, lean back, and enjoy watching.
The new Fire TV Channels FAST hub marks yet another foray by Amazon into ad-supported streaming, and it may not be the last. Prime Video is one of the only subscription video streaming services available that doesn’t offer an ad-supported tier, but reports from June indicate that will be changing, as Amazon is preparing to launch a Prime Video plan with ads.
Amazon’s multi-billion dollar e-commerce business has allowed it to go at its own pace with ad-supported streaming. But there’s a growing sense of urgency among all streamers to increase profitability now, and ads are a key component in that equation, so it’s hardly surprising to see Amazon boosting the amount of content with commercials it offers to customers. The Fire TV Channels app is now available to Fire TV device owners with no downloads, subscriptions, or fees required.