Plex adds 80+ free live TV channels to platform

Plex adds new live TV service for more than 220 countries

Plex is adding 80+ free, live TV channels to its platform today.

The new streaming service will be available in more than 220 countries that Plex serves, the company announced on Thursday. 

The new streaming service will be free, and supported by commercials, similar to Pluto TV, XUMO and The Roku Channel. 

“Two of the most important factors for an enjoyable streaming experience are easily being able to find something of interest to watch, and being able to watch it from any device you choose,” said Keith Valory, CEO of Plex. “Plex offers consumers across the globe a simple yet powerful platform for access to all types of content that can be streamed from all types of devices.” 

Plex added a library of on-demand movies to its service in December. That collection grew in May when it partnered with Crackle to add its library to the collection. 

Plex now has roughly 14,000 free movies, documentaries, and TV shows on-demand. 

What’s on Plex’s Live TV service? 

Live TV on Plex will offer news from Reuters and Yahoo Finance; kids’ shows (Toon Goggles); food, travel, and home & design programming on Tastemade.

Some sports programming including live games, original programming and movies from fubo Sports Network are also on Plex’s Live TV service. The exact channel lineup will differ based on a customer’s location.

Plex’s OTA Live TV

Plex launched a live TV and DVR guide service for free over-the-air (OTA) channels in June 2017. 

A TV antenna, compatible television tuner and a Plex pass subscription is required for that service. 

The OTA channel guide will remain separate from the new streaming live TV service. 

The company is working on integrating the two guides at some point in the future, according to a company spokesperson. 

The new Live TV streaming service has a customizable menu. Plex users will be able to remove or rearrange streaming channels. 

Plex started as a software hub so that people could centralize their home movie and music collection.

The service has been aggregating a number of other free and paid services to Plex over the last two years. Podcasts, web shows, curated news, and a way to combine streaming music via TIDAL with a user’s personal music collection is now part of Plex’s software hub.

Plex is available on major streaming devices such as Roku, Amazon Fire TV and Apple TV. There are smartphone apps, and there is integration with PCs and Macs. 

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