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As Google TV takes on the migration of Play Movies and TV from the Google Play Store, users are left without a reliable or decent web experience for their content. In the gap, YouTube’s interface must be used for anyone who has content they want to watch through Chrome, and let’s just be honest – it’s not great.
However, Team YouTube posted to its blog that it’s improving a few things – most notably, it’s adding 4,000 ad-supported episodes of TV shows so you can watch things like Hell’s Kitchen, Andromeda, Heartland, and more without having to pay. While no one likes ads, I’m sure that everyone does like the idea of more free content. Recently, Google TV baked Pluto TV directly into its Live TV tab, so all of this extra YouTube content coming at no cost will likely be a welcome addition for anyone trying to cut the cord in 2022.
Many of these titles are also now available in high definition 1080p with 5.1 surround sound audio on supported devices.
YouTube Blog
YouTube is also adding up to 100 new titles for movies and shows each week, presumably as they air on live television, and you’ll also be able to check back frequently to watch these on web browsers, mobile devices, Chromebooks and most connected TVs (wherever you can install the YouTube on TV app).
Since YouTube has now reached over 135 million users on connected TVs in the U.S. in December 2021, according to a recent Nielson report, so in addition to bolstering its content catalog, YouTube is refreshing its “leanback” experience on smart TVs. As you can see in the image below, it looks a lot more inviting and even gives a Netflix vibe. Despite this, we still don’t have a web interface for Google TV, and I’m sort of wondering why Google is pouring into YouTube right now instead of creating said interface. We thought they were close to doing so with Project Kaleidoscope, but alas, that was killed off in production.
The new enhanced viewing experience for the YouTube app on TVs has streamlined navigation and immersive banner art as well as rich visuals, and new menus so that when you sit down to watch a rented or purchased TV show or movie or if you decide to watch one of the newly added ad-supported pieces of content, it doesn’t feel like you’re watching from the early 2000s.
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