Samsung Ads on Tuesday made its NewFronts pitch in New York City, where the electronics giant boasted its device reach and disclosed new additions to the Samsung TV Plus FAST service, including linear sports and music channels, alongside new gaming experiences that promise ad opportunities.
Opening the presentation, Samsung’s Michael Scott, VP of Ad Sales and Operations, pointed to the company’s massive device ecosystem, where it holds the spot as a leading smart TV maker (with it’s Tizen OS is also widely adopted in the U.S.) as well as number one mobile phone brand and digital signage brand globally. He noted three out of every four U.S. households have at least one Samsung device. And across its portfolio, the Samsung TV Plus free ad-supported streaming TV service is available on more than 630 million active devices globally.
In touting benefits for advertisers, the VP cited a “360-degree view of consumers” enabled by its vast ecosystem and AI capabilities that generate data and insights to both target and reach consumers starting from their initial touchpoint through to endpoint, be it on TV or mobile.
And while multiple prongs of Samsung’s business can play together for advertisers, the TV experience was top of mind at NewFronts.
“Today the living room is much more than just a place to watch TV. It’s really the hub of the home, which makes it the most important real estate in media,” Scott said on stage Tuesday. “We are America’s first choice for television. More Americans choose to stream directly through their Samsung TV than any other smart TV brand or connected device.”
New sports, music content partnerships – creator, kids content in focus
As for the new FAST programming, the latest sports additions include channels from Major League Baseball (MLB), the PGA Tour, American Hockey League (AHL), and One Championship (MMA). Samsung TV Plus is also launching the first-ever Formula 1 racing FAST channel.
The Formula One Channel will feature analysis, replays and documentaries spanning action from F1, F2, F3 and F1 Academy races throughout the season. The MLB channel will showcase a weekly game replay as well as Minor league game replays and recaps in addition to exclusive content. For AHL, STVP is the first FAST platform air live league games through the Los Angeles Kings affiliate, the Ontario Reign. FAST competitor Roku Channel recently launched an NBA free linear streaming channel – for perspective from TVREV analyst Alan Wolk on why so-called “shoulder” sports content like that in the Roku-NBA deal is a smart move for both leagues and FAST services, read here.
On stage, Samsung TV Plus’ Takashi Nakano said the FAST is focused on strategic partnerships for programming genres that it knows are important to agencies and their clients.
Through a separate partnership announced Tuesday, STVP is bringing more music into the mix.
During the presentation it disclosed an exclusive deal with Warner Music, which will pad out a recently launched music hub with exclusive playlists including The Drop (a VOD playlist tied to the launch of new album releases) and Artist Odyssey (a chronological journey through a Warner’s artist’s catalog).
In promoting its lineup to brands and agencies, Samsung Ads’ head of marketing Melissa Wasserman touted its smart TV audience and engagement for Samsung TV Plus (STVP). Citing internal research, Wasserman said the company analyzed time spent viewing across every ad-supported app on Samsung devices and found STVP to have the highest engagement.
“That means that more people spend more time with Samsung TV Plus than they do with any other streaming service that runs ads,” Wasserman said. “Put simply, if you want to reach a relevant, influential audience and drive ROI in streaming, Samsung TV Plus is a must buy.”
Although the executive didn’t share specifics on engagement, the company in November previously disclosed 60% year over year viewership growth for STVP alongside user interface updates.
Wasserman also cited a survey of over 50,000 people by Advertising Research Foundation, which she said found Samsung audiences have more spending power with higher income than other OEM users, are better educated, and are more likely to have children in the home.
In addition to sports and music, Samsung TV Plus is focused on expanding creator content as well as kids programming. It inked a recent deal with Mattel for three kids-focused FAST channels and is launching a Blippi FAST channel. On the creator side it’s building up a new content library starting with an exclusive channel called Animation Plus, featuring content from premium YouTube creators and offering over 600 hours of adult animation content.
While STVP initially put emphasis on its linear FAST environment, it’s now working to expand on-demand programming – with plans to double the amount of VOD content this year, after having already done so in 2023.
Games come to FAST ad breaks
Samsung’s also adding gaming elements to its TV platform and allowing advertisers to get in on the action. It plans to turn ordinary ad breaks on Samsung TV Plus into interactive gaming experiences, such as trivia, which don’t require a console.
The first addition is called Rivals Arena, a cinematic card game from Return Entertainment that will be exclusive to Samsung TVs starting next month and can be played using any smartphone as a controller.
“Players can jump right in from the Samsung home screen or Game Hub by simply grabbing their phone and scanning a QR code,” said Samsung VP Cathy Oh on stage. Advertisers can sponsor Rivals Arena with creatives running as interstitials in between gameplay and endemic brands can cobrand the full experience.
The second is The Six, an interactive trivia game that’s built-in, as well as available as an ad break on STVP and playable with a Samsung TV remote. According to Oh, advertisers can brand the experience including with custom backgrounds and themes for trivia questions.
Leveraging CTV and mobile
The electronics giant is also looking to leverage its device strength with a new offering that utilizes CTV real estate to help drive subscriber acquisition and engagement on partners’ TV, web or mobile apps.
Previously only available to streaming app advertisers, the product, which utilizes AI capabilities, is now available across advertising verticals.
According to Samsung, the new offering enables advertises to tap space on Samsung smart TVs “paired with the company’s unique AI capabilities to acquire new users and drive engagement to their mobile apps. In addition, advertisers can prove more ROI by measuring return on ad spend though Samsung’s partnerships with the industry’s top mobile measurement providers.”