LAS VEGAS (Jan 6): Samsung TV Plus — a free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) service owned by Samsung Electronics — is working with digital creators to curate and elevate the best creators and integrate them meaningfully into the TV experiences.

Digital-first content is increasingly being consumed on television screens in living rooms, blurring the lines between “web content” and television, said Salek Brodsky, senior vice-president and global head of Samsung TV Plus, at Samsung’s “FAST Forward: How streaming’s next wave is redefining television” forum at CES 2026. 

This comes as the creator ecosystem has matured significantly over time. “I think the creator community has evolved considerably in terms of what they're actually creating, what they're producing. In the early days, it wasn't really made for TV programming,” said Brodsky. 

“When you're thinking about a show on TV, you're thinking about a certain quality mark. You're thinking about a certain length of programming. You're thinking about how it's packaged together to tell a story. TV affords the creator the opportunity to tell stories in a different way than does a social platform.”

This is why Samsung TV Plus aims to curate and elevate the best creators and integrate them meaningfully into the TV experience.

An example of this is Smosh, an American YouTube sketch comedy-improv collective, independent production company, and former social networking site.

Its chief executive officer Ale Catanese said that partnering with Samsung delivered tangible strategic benefits for Smosh. This is because moving on to a FAST channel encouraged the company to improve its brand, production quality and overall positioning. 

Over the past year, Smosh invested heavily in transitioning its content to full 4K, which was admittedly costly but made with a long-term impact in mind, she said. Investments such as this repositioned Smosh from a group of “YouTubers”, to a premium comedy brand and media company.

“I think coming to Samsung was a very easy decision, not just because of the notoriety and premium value of the brand name, but also because we were able to focus on one platform where we can look our best and really elevate and mature our brand in a way that provides exclusivity. It provides that premium value,” said Catanese.

“Like I said, it matures our brand and our content, and it makes us invest in the things that are kind of future-proofing Smosh as a company.”

For Samsung TV Plus, integrating creators like Smosh integrates live programming, creators, and interactivity. 

“There's a lot of potential to actually take TV to the next level. It's better than it used to be, but it's not that different. And I think that there's an opportunity now to really level it up and add that interactive layer that's blended with new, kind of authentic creators, and even in live settings, potentially,” said Brodsky.