How to Get a Channel on Samsung TV Plus: The Realistic Playbook

Samsung TV Plus does not take open submissions. To get a channel on Samsung TV Plus, you have two paths. Established brands pitch Samsung's content team directly. Everyone else goes through a distribution partner such as Amagi, Wurl, or Frequency, firms that already hold carriage relationships with Samsung. Either way, Samsung judges the pitch on proof: a recognizable brand, existing viewership data, deep content rights, and a clean technical package.

This guide covers who Samsung accepts, what the technical bar looks like, how the distributor route works, what timeline to expect, and the build-audience-first alternative for operators who are not ready to pitch yet.

What is Samsung TV Plus?

Samsung TV Plus is the free, ad-supported streaming service built into Samsung smart TVs and Galaxy devices. It ships preinstalled, so every Samsung TV sold is a potential viewer with zero downloads required. Samsung reported 100M+ monthly active users entering 2026, with viewing hours up 25% year over year. That installed base is why carriage on Samsung TV Plus is one of the most sought-after slots in FAST distribution.

The catch follows directly from the scale. Samsung curates a limited lineup per region, usually a few hundred channels per country. Every slot Samsung grants has to earn ad revenue against the slots it declined. That math shapes everything below.

Who does Samsung TV Plus accept?

Samsung TV Plus is a curated storefront, not an open marketplace. Based on how deals get announced, accepted partners cluster into three groups:

1. Major media brands. Studios, broadcasters, and sports leagues with licensed catalogs and household names.
2. Established FAST networks. Operators who already run proven channels on other platforms and bring viewership data with them.
3. Breakout digital creators. Samsung has struck creator deals, including an originals partnership with Dhar Mann. These are exceptions Samsung pursues, not a lane you apply into.

If you are an independent operator without a recognizable brand, a cold pitch to Samsung rarely gets a reply. That is not a rejection of your content. It is a bandwidth reality: Samsung's content team fields far more pitches than it can carry, so intermediaries do the filtering. And if your asset is a film catalog rather than a running channel, the licensing model at Tubi may fit better than carriage pitches entirely.

What are the requirements for a Samsung TV Plus channel?

Samsung does not publish a public requirements checklist, and specifics change by region and deal. The durable shape, consistent across FAST platforms, looks like this:

Our content requirements guide breaks each row down in detail, and the caption rules matter more than most first-time operators expect. Requirements shift, so confirm current specs with Samsung or your distributor before you build anything to them.

The distributor route, step by step

Since direct submission is rare, most channels reach Samsung TV Plus through a distribution or playout partner. The process generally runs like this:

1. Package the channel. A themed concept, a programming plan, a rights summary per territory, and any performance data you have.
2. Sign with a distributor. Amagi, Wurl, Frequency, OTTera, and similar firms provide playout infrastructure and hold platform relationships. They take a revenue share, commonly a double-digit percentage, and terms vary by deal.
3. The distributor pitches Samsung. Your channel goes into their slate presented to Samsung's content team. The distributor's track record carries weight your name alone would not.
4. Samsung evaluates. Genre fit against lineup gaps, projected ad revenue, brand strength, and territory rights all factor in.
5. Technical onboarding. If accepted, you deliver the feed to spec, pass QA, and get an EPG slot. One delivery vendor, Molten Cloud, reports onboarding commonly runs nine to 13 weeks after approval. Treat that as a vendor estimate, not a Samsung commitment.

The same distributor-led shape applies on LG Channels and Vizio WatchFree+, so one distributor relationship can open several doors.

Realistic timeline expectations

Plan in quarters, not weeks. Finding and signing a distributor can take a month or more. Pitch cycles depend on when Samsung reviews new channels for your region, which you do not control. Technical onboarding adds two to three months once approved. End to end, six months from first outreach to launch is a reasonable case, and longer is common. Rejections often come silently, as a pitch that simply never advances.

Budget matters too. Distributors need confidence the channel will earn its keep, since their revenue share only pays out if the channel performs. A channel with zero audience history is a hard sell for them as much as for Samsung.

While you wait, keep improving the asset. Tighten the programming wheel, close rights gaps in additional territories, and clean up your metadata pipeline. Every one of those items shortens onboarding later and strengthens the next pitch. Operators who treat the waiting period as build time consistently come out ahead of those who simply wait.

A note on what strengthens a pitch. Distributors and platform teams respond to three things above all: a clear genre promise a viewer can grasp in one line, a library deep enough to sustain that promise for months, and data showing people already watch. If you can only invest in one, invest in the data.

The build-audience-first alternative

There is a faster way to become the kind of channel Samsung says yes to: launch now on an open platform, then pitch with data instead of promises.

On Vidiyo you can start a FAST channel free and self-serve. Upload your library, schedule it, and the platform handles transcoding, 24/7 playout, SSAI, and EPG generation. Channels play in any web browser with no account required, plus apps on Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, iOS, and Android. You keep a revenue share on ads from day one.

Six months of real numbers changes your position entirely. "Here is our watch time, our completion rate, and our returning-viewer curve" is a pitch distributors and platforms respond to. The channel launch checklist walks the setup, and the revenue calculator helps set expectations while you grow.

This is not either-or. Running an owned channel while you court Samsung means audience and income during the wait, and a stronger pitch at the end of it.

Official references

• Samsung TV Plus partner info: samsung.com
• Launch on Vidiyo instead of applying platform-by-platform: start creating
• Related: FAST distribution platforms

Quick answers

Can anyone submit a channel to Samsung TV Plus? No. There is no public submission form. Channels arrive through direct deals with Samsung's content team or through distribution partners with existing carriage relationships.

How much does it cost to get on Samsung TV Plus? Samsung does not charge a listing fee in the typical model. Real costs are your distributor's revenue share plus playout and delivery. We cannot verify specific fee figures, and terms vary by deal.

How long does it take to get a channel on Samsung TV Plus? Expect months. Pitching alone can take a quarter, and vendor-reported onboarding runs roughly nine to 13 weeks after approval. Timelines vary and Samsung publishes none.

Do I need a distributor to get on Samsung TV Plus? Not strictly, but in practice almost all independent channels arrive through one. Direct deals go to established brands Samsung already wants.

What's next

• Compare every major platform's door in FAST channel distribution platforms.
• Get spec-ready with FAST channel content requirements.
• See how the curated model differs at Pluto TV and Amazon Fire TV Channels.
• Ready to build proof first? Start a FAST channel today.