Take those expectations down a notch. Some of the channels advertised as part of WatchFree include: • Pluto TV Movies • Action Movies • Black Cinema • News 24/7 • NBC News/MSNBC • Fox Sports • Frontdoor • Cats 24/7 • Crime Network • MST3K • The Surf Channel Those NBC and Fox channels aren’t the actual cable networks, mind you; they’re different versions created for OTT services. “Coming soon” to WatchFree are two channels dedicated entirely to Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares and Unsolved Mysteries, the creepy ‘90s series hosted by Robert Stack. Apparently there was also a rebooted version hosted by Dennis Farina, but I don't acknowledge that and neither should you.
One thing of note is that you can’t pause or rewind WatchFree; it’s live/linear, and that’s all. If you’re expecting amazing content from a free service, I don’t know what to tell you While it’s to be expected for the price of free (with ads), WatchFree is several rungs below cable and subscription-based internet TV services in programming quality.
It’s definitely a few steps better than the strange extra channels you get from a TV antenna, though. And if you’re a fan of one of those pop-up channels for MST3K or Kitchen Nightmares, it makes for easy marathon-viewing. Vizio is by no means trying to position WatchFree as your new favorite streaming destination. More than anything else, it’s sort of a fallback for cord cutters who feel like venturing someplace new for a thing to watch — outside of Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, and other apps that can be casted to Vizio’s sets. Data collection on user viewing habits might be a concern to some given the company’s history, however.
If you have zero interest in streaming WatchFree, there’s a way to remove it from your TV’s inputs. Here’s how to do that: 1. Press Menu 2.
Select “Input Settings” 3. Select “WatchFree” 4. Select “Hide From Input List” 5. Press the right arrow to change to “Hidden” But maybe it’s worth doing some channel surfing before deciding. Below, I’ve included the entire, very long list of WatchFree channels that are available at launch.