YouTube Adds Nearly 4,000 TV Episodes to Stream for Free

variety.com:

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorYouTube is upping its play for cord-cutters: The video platform has released dozens of full seasons of about 100 TV shows — nearly 4,000 episodes in all — available to stream for free with ads.The free TV shows are available only to YouTube users in the U.S.

The lineup includes Gordon Ramsay’s “Hell’s Kitchen” and “Kitchen Nightmares,” “Andromeda,” “Heartland,” “Scream Queens,” “Unsolved Mysteries,” “Sanctuary,” “Hidden Palms,” “21 Jump Street,” “Iron Chef,” “Brewster Place” and “Are We There Yet?”YouTube’s addition of the licensed TV shows marks a bigger move to compete with free, ad-supported television (FAST) rivals like Paramount’s Pluto TV, Fox’s Tubi and Amazon’s IMDb TV.

The new lineup of free TV shows on YouTube comes in addition to a selection of free movies also available to stream for free with ads.

Currently, the platform provides more than 1,500 movies from partners including Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution, Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures, Lionsgate and FilmRise.