What you need to know
- Amazon is expanding support for more providers to Fire TV's live channel guide.
- It's also now integrating select apps including Plex, IMDB, and XUMO, into the guide.
- Finally, users will have a more robust Alexa-experience, including the ability to invoke news channels and programs by name.
Amazon today announced an expansion of providers to Fire TV's Live Channel guide. It's adding more than 400 channels from 20 providers, including YouTube TV, SLING TV, Tubi, and its own services like Prime Video Channels and Prime Video Live events.
The company also announced that it would be integrating IMDB, XUMO, Plex, and the Amazon News app into Fire TV's Live TV channel guide. This means you'll be able to see them in the Live tab, as well as the Universal Channel tab. All of these services but Plex are available now, but even that should be coming soon. Amazon notes that all these services, as well as a substantial number of the additional providers, are free with ads to new customers.
Amazon will also enable Alexa support for all Live TV programs, so you'll be able to use Alexa to navigate channels or even play live TV shows by name with commands as "Alexa, play Good Morning America."
Commenting on the story, VP and PM of Amazon Fire TV, Sandeep Gupta said:
We've always taken a content-forward approach when designing Fire TV. When you turn on your TV, you're going to see shows, movies, and sports — not just rows of apps. This philosophy extends to our approach to live content. We're continuing to invest heavily in Live TV and so are our content partners. We're expanding that today with the addition of new integrations, Alexa capabilities, and enhanced content discovery mechanisms.
Colin Petrie-Norris, CEO at XUMO added:
XUMO's full integration with Fire TV's all-new experience offers a seamless way for users to discover an enormous array of our free, premium programming across multiple genres. Together we are providing the very best entertainment options possible while delivering on XUMO's mission to offer best-in-class content to the most popular devices.
Late last year, Amazon also added support for on-demand local news channels in 12 cities. The company plans to reach 90 additional U.S. cities over the coming year. The company also rolled out a family of new Fire TV Sticks aimed at bringing lowering the cost of entry into the platform.
Amazon Fire TV Stick Lite
Amazon's newest HDMI dongle is its cheapest Fire TV stick ever. At $30, the Fire TV Stick Lite dispenses with the additional TV controls of its mainline counterpart, but it still gets the job done.
