VIZIO, a Walmart brand, today unveiled new programming for WatchFree+, its free ad-supported streaming service, at Advertising Week New York: a GEICO-sponsored original holiday film, more than 40 creator-led channels and a chocolate-making series, according to VIZIO.

In Short

VIZIO, the TV maker owned by Walmart, said today that its free streaming service is adding a holiday movie, a chocolate-baking show and channels from internet stars such as MrBeast. It matters to brands and agencies that buy ads on TVs, and to viewers who watch without paying, because the service earns its money from advertising rather than subscriptions. What changes is the catalogue on VIZIO and Onn TVs, while ad prices, formats and premiere dates for the new film and series have not been published.

What VIZIO put on the schedule

The release, issued in New York for Advertising Week, runs across three strands. The first is volume: WatchFree+ now offers more than 45,000 movies and shows and more than 400 live and local channels, according to VIZIO. The second is a branded original film. The third is a push into creator-led programming.

Library and licensing

VIZIO said it has expanded relationships with MGM, NBCUniversal, Disney, A&E and A24, and that the arrangements will bring additional award-winning and popular programming to homes this fall. Titles named in the release include The Good Doctor, Chicago Fire, Law & Order, Property Brothers and Little House on the Prairie, with further titles left unspecified. Whether these arrive as on-demand shelves, as scheduled channels or as both is not stated.

The channel count has moved over time. VIZIO's platform site, describing the move of WatchFree+ into the VIZIO mobile app on September 5, 2024, cited more than 300 channels. Today's figure is more than 400 - an increase across roughly 25 months, although the two counts may not define a channel in the same way.

The original film

Jingle Bells Wedding Bells stars Rachel Bilson and Scott Foley and was produced by ITV America Nashville and Happy Accidents, according to VIZIO. It will premiere exclusively on WatchFree+ across VIZIO OS and the web during the holiday season, with GEICO as presenting sponsor. No premiere date appeared in the release.

Arianna Orpello, GEICO's Chief Marketing Officer, said in the release that "Where people spend their time watching entertainment matters", adding that partnerships of this kind "give us new ways to connect with audiences".

VIZIO also said that representatives from Omnicom, Walmart Connect and VIZIO will explain at the company's Advertising Week Breakfast Showcase how the content and commerce partnership behind the film is coming to life "across screens and in-store". The showcase is the seventh annual edition. The release names no speakers and does not describe Omnicom's role in the film.

Creator channels and the chocolate series

WatchFree+ now carries more than 40 creator-led channels, according to VIZIO, spanning comedy, food, gaming, family, lifestyle, sports and travel. The release names MrBeast, Celine Dept, Hot Ones, The Royalty Family, Ben Azelart, Ryan Trahan, Nick DiGiovanni, Preston Playz, Rebecca Zamolo, Sam and Colby and Uncle Roger, and adds that the list is not complete. All sit in the free, ad-supported tier.

The second creator item is a series built around the chocolatier Amaury Guichon, also exclusive to WatchFree+. VIZIO's release calls it Holiday Chocolate Workshop and says it follows Guichon and his team as they build large holiday showpieces for a reveal at the end of the season. According to VIZIO, the format combines creator-led storytelling with brand opportunities across streaming and social experiences.

A naming discrepancy and open questions

The email that accompanied the release gives the series title as Holiday Chocolate Shop. This article follows the release, which is the official document. Neither version gives a premiere date or an episode count.

Several other points are unaddressed. The release does not separate channels that are new from channels already on the service. It supplies no viewership figures for any creator channel. And the phrase "brand opportunities" is not accompanied by a description of formats, sponsorship tiers or buying routes.

Figures VIZIO attached to the announcement

The release opens with reach data. According to VIZIO, VIZIO OS became the top-selling smart TV operating system in the U.S. in the first half of 2026 and now reaches 32 million yearly active devices, up 20 percent from a year earlier. Time spent watching WatchFree+ is up 58 percent over the same comparison, with the release crediting VIZIO internal data for Q2 FY27.

These are company figures, with no third-party verification cited. Two details complicate comparison. First, the release does not define a yearly active device or explain how hours are counted. Second, it uses two time windows: the first half of 2026 for the operating-system ranking, and a fiscal quarter label for the viewing data. Walmart's fiscal 2026 ended in January 2026, so Q2 FY27 would fall in the middle of this year, though the release does not give the months.

The audience unit has also shifted repeatedly. When Walmart agreed to buy VIZIO, the SmartCast platform was described as reaching more than 18 million active accounts, according to PPC Land's coverage of the deal. At the March 2026 IAB NewFronts presentation, executives cited 92 million VIZIO households, according to Marketing Dive. Today's unit is devices. Accounts, households and devices are different measures, so the three numbers cannot be lined up as a growth series.

The platform claim has also changed wording. VIZIO's own recap of the March presentation described VIZIO OS as the fastest-growing TV platform in the U.S., powering one in every five TVs sold, while today's release moves to top-selling in the first half of 2026. No unit sales or share figure supports either statement.

Where the announcement sits in Walmart's advertising build-out

VIZIO's ownership explains much of the commercial logic. On February 20, 2024, Walmart agreed to acquire VIZIO for $11.50 per share in cash, valuing the company at about $2.3 billion. Walmart said it completed the acquisition on December 3, 2024.

The advertising results followed. In February 2026, Walmart reported that its U.S. retail media business, Walmart Connect, grew 41 percent in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026, that global advertising came close to $6.4 billion for the year, and that advertising on VIZIO delivered triple-digit growth. VIZIO's contribution is reported separately from Walmart Connect's U.S. figure, which means the two growth rates describe different bases.

The hardware side moved in parallel. In November 2025, The Desk reported that Walmart had started selling an Onn-branded television running VIZIO's operating system, replacing the Roku-powered model, with the software renamed from SmartCast OS to VIZIO OS. The release states that WatchFree+ is built into VIZIO and Onn TVs and is also available through the VIZIO mobile app, so the Onn shift widens the set of screens on which the new programming can appear.

A pattern of branded content has emerged around this infrastructure. On March 23, 2026, Walmart and VIZIO used the IAB NewFronts to present a product placement with L'Oréal and a unified Walmart login for new VIZIO OS and Onn TVs, according to Marketing Dive. In June, Walmart Connect's Cannes Lions recap pointed to premium branded content specials produced with VIZIO, among them Backyard Escapes, according to Walmart. And on June 23, 2026, Walmart agreed to buy Vibe.co, a self-serve platform for buying streaming TV ads that serves ecommerce brands and small and mid-sized businesses. Walmart expects that deal to close by the end of fiscal 2027.

Today's release adds a different layer: entertainment programming rather than ad tooling. It mentions Walmart's presence at Advertising Week, including Partner Connect, Walmart Connect's annual showcase of premium advertising solutions, but contains no new advertising product.

How a free channel earns its money

Technical detail is thin in the release, though the mechanics are well established. On a FAST service, the television receives one continuous stream rather than separate files, and advertising is stitched into that stream on the server side. That design makes the ads hard to block and gives the experience a broadcast feel. Ad load is a scheduling decision encoded in markers within the feed. A mismatch can arise when linear feeds carry long ad pods: Amagi described in April 2026 how pods of four to eight minutes are common in linear feeds, while many FAST platforms reject breaks of that length, causing ad server timeouts and lower fill rates.

For creator content, the relevant question is how video made for on-demand platforms is cut into scheduled channels with ad breaks. The release does not say whether WatchFree+ programs the 40-plus channels as continuous schedules, as on-demand shelves or as a mix. It also does not state who sells the inventory - VIZIO directly, Walmart Connect or programmatic buyers - nor whether the targeting and sales attribution described in March would extend to these channels.

Measurement on CTV carries its own gaps, and creator inventory is arriving from several directions. PubMatic opened a programmatic CTV auction for independent creator publishers in June 2026, according to NetInfluencer, with MeatEater as the first partner. Whether VIZIO's creator channels will be sold in similar open-auction form is another unaddressed point.

Why the announcement matters for the marketing community

For the ad-buying side, this is a content announcement with commercial implications that have not yet been specified. Walmart has spent two years connecting VIZIO to its retail data, and the March presentation framed that link as a route from content to purchase. Creator channels and a sponsored film widen the range of environments in which that route could operate, but the documents supply no formats, prices or measurement terms.

The sponsorship structure is one concrete data point. GEICO is presenting sponsor of the film, a single-advertiser arrangement whose surrounding inventory the release does not describe. A second consideration is the creator economy's migration from phones to living-room screens. MrBeast, Hot Ones and a long list of other creator-led names appear in a free tier on a retailer-owned operating system, a placement that sits alongside the creators' existing social and video distribution. Competing services run by other device makers, among them Samsung TV Plus and The Roku Channel, operate on the same model, so the catalogue is a point of competition as much as a feature.

Finally, the claims are all VIZIO's own. The 32 million devices, the 20 percent rise and the 58 percent viewing gain come from internal data that has not been audited in public. No independent measurement of WatchFree+ audiences, or of how creator channels perform on a television compared with a phone, accompanied the release.

Timeline

  • February 20, 2024: Walmart agrees to acquire VIZIO for about $2.3 billion; SmartCast cited at more than 18 million active accounts.
  • September 5, 2024: VIZIO brings WatchFree+ to its mobile app on iOS and Android, citing more than 300 channels.
  • December 3, 2024: Walmart completes the VIZIO acquisition.
  • November 2025: Walmart begins selling an Onn TV powered by VIZIO OS, replacing the Roku-powered model.
  • February 2026: Walmart Connect reports 41 percent fourth-quarter growth; VIZIO advertising grows at triple-digit rates.
  • March 23, 2026: Walmart and VIZIO present a L'Oréal product placement and a unified Walmart login at the IAB NewFronts.
  • June 23, 2026: Walmart agrees to buy Vibe.co; Walmart Connect highlights VIZIO branded content at Cannes Lions.
  • Today: VIZIO unveils the WatchFree+ slate at Advertising Week New York, with 45,000-plus titles, 400-plus channels, 40-plus creator channels, a GEICO-sponsored film and a chocolate series.
  • This fall: additional programming from MGM, NBCUniversal, Disney, A&E and A24 is due on the service, according to VIZIO.
  • Holiday season 2026: Jingle Bells Wedding Bells is due to premiere on WatchFree+; no date given.

Summary

  • Who: VIZIO, a Walmart brand, with GEICO as presenting sponsor of the original film, and ITV America Nashville and Happy Accidents as its producers; actors Rachel Bilson and Scott Foley; creators including MrBeast, Hot Ones and Amaury Guichon.
  • What: A slate for the free ad-supported WatchFree+ service: more than 45,000 movies and shows, more than 400 live and local channels, more than 40 creator-led channels, the original film Jingle Bells Wedding Bells and the series Holiday Chocolate Workshop, together with VIZIO internal reach and viewing figures.
  • When: Today, at Advertising Week New York; the film is due this holiday season and additional licensed programming this fall.
  • Where: New York, with distribution on VIZIO and Onn TVs, the VIZIO mobile app and the web, in the United States.
  • Why: VIZIO is widening the content that supports its advertising business within Walmart's wider media push, and is pairing a sponsored original with creator programming. Details on formats, pricing, measurement and premiere dates have not been published.