Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL;DR
- VLC media player could gain access to free, ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channels, a representative said.
- This would be an optional feature for users, though, and the decision hasn’t been finalized yet.
VLC is one of the world’s most popular and flexible media players, playing a variety of multimedia files and even letting you stream content over the network and via URLs. It sounds like the program could gain another notable feature in the future, though.
The president of the VideoLAN organization behind VLC told Low Pass (via It’s FOSS News) that they were thinking about bringing free, ad-supported streaming TV channels and “other ad-supported online media” to VLC media player.
“People, especially the younger generation, expect to stream,” Jean-Baptiste Kempf was quoted as saying.
Do you want free ad-supported streaming channels on VLC?
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The president cautioned that plans for these ad-supported channels haven’t been finalized. He also clarified that this integration would be optional for users if it were implemented.
In any event, optional support for FAST channels would be an interesting addition to VLC. The app is already a versatile media player with loads of features, so access to a suite of free, ad-supported channels would make the app stand out from rival players. But we do hope to see more additions focused on local or network playback.
