Welcome to our weekly snapshot of TV by the numbers, highlighting the most-watched shows and networks for June 12-18, with insights from Inscape, the currency-grade smart TV ACR data provider and data technology division of Vizio. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

The growth of free, ad-supported television (FAST) in recent years offers new audience reach for advertisers, marketers, and publishers alike. It’s time for broadcasters and content developers, i.e. “publishers” to jump onboard “the new cable” if they’re not already: a recent report from TVREV says that by 2025, ad spend on FAST will surpass that of cable, broadcast, and subscription video on-demand (SVOD).

Yahoo Advertising is starting up Yahoo Backstage, providing advertisers with a direct connection to inventory for over 100 premium publishers.

Those publishers include TV-video based companies such as A+E Networks and Vizio, as well as Dotdash Meredith, Newsweek, Raptive, and The Arena Group.

Fubo and Maximum Effort have secured multiple streaming distribution deals to launch the channel, which drops on Fubo tomorrow (June 20). The US partners that have picked up the channel are Amazon Freevee, LG Channels, Plex, Sling Freestream, VIDAA, VIZIO WatchFree+ and Xumo Play.

The news confirms that Maximum Effort Channel will be widely available through free platforms, and on a variety of different devices, including Hisense, LG and Vizio smart TVs.

Plus, in terms of individual households, LG claims to have an almost exclusive audience. Most households with an LG TV likely don’t also have TV sets from other manufacturers, such as Samsung or Vizio.

If you have a Vizio TV and have access to their WatchFree+ app you can watch various Peacock Original titles for free on the Peacock Preview Channel(channel #196). It is just select episodes so you can’t binge a whole season but it does give you a taste of what the actual Peacock streaming service has.

Ryan Reynolds’ Maximum Effort Channel, a partnership with Fubo, will also be distributed on several other streaming platforms when it launches on June 20.

The Independent Streaming Alliance was announced at the StreamTV Show. The founding group of companies includes Allen Media Group, Chicken Soup for Soul Entertainment, Cineverse, and Revry. Philippe Guelton, chief revenue officer at Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, explained why the independent streamers are coming together:

He noted that in the years since the Digital Advertising Alliance first issued its code, a number of states have passed their own privacy statutes, and the Federal Trade Commission has brought an enforcement action against smart TV manufacturer Vizio over data collection.

Alan Wolk, the co-founder and lead analyst at streaming website TVREV, had yet another reason for Max to stay out of this — again, for now. “With HBO, there’s still a lot of confusion around people switching to Max from their cable subscription,” he told us, “so they probably won’t do any sort of crackdown right away.”

NBCUniversal’s Peacock is the first platform to use a new content discovery feature that ties into Vizio’s WatchFree+ free, ad-supported/FAST streaming app and smart TV interface.

The Vizio feature, Content Connections, allows users to switch directly from WatchFree+ to streaming subscription services.

The new Independent Streaming Alliance (ISA) calls itself “a procompetitive independent industry forum to proactively engage and work collaboratively with consumers, platforms, regulators, and media.”

The preview channel will be available for a three-week period, during which Vizio viewers can enjoy a preview of more than 16 popular Peacock titles and connect directly with the Peacock app to discover even more entertainment available through the premium subscription service.

Vizio on Wednesday debuted a new content discovery feature tied to its WatchFree+ service and smart TV interface, with NBCUniversal’s Peacock signed on as its first content partner.

The new feature, called Content Connections, means users can move directly from Vizio’s free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) WatchFree+ environment to popular subscription services.

The fact is that the TV marketplace is going to push Netflix in that direction, especially as linear audience holdouts increasingly transition to streaming environments.

For instance: Seven of the 11 most-watched shows on national linear TV this past week were sports, according to Inscape data. And we’re not even in fall, when premium sports programming is at its peak.

The Peacock Preview Channel includes access to “A Friend of the Family,” “Bel-Air,” “Below Deck Adventure,” “Below Deck Down Under,” “Below Deck Mediterranean,” “Dr. Death,” “The Real Housewives of Atlanta,” “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” “The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip,” The Traitors,” and “Vanderpump Rules,” among others.

With this launch, Vizio also introduces Content Connections, a new interactive feature that offers users a seamless way to move between Vizio’s WatchFree+ environment and popular subscription services. During Peacock Preview viewing, users are presented with intuitive messages and a direct connection to watch additional episodes and entertainment in the Peacock streaming app.

It looks like VIZIO smart TV owners are getting an influx of premium content for a limited time. Over the next three weeks, VIZIO’s free streaming hub WatchFree+ will host a selection of free episodes from more than 16 fan-favorite movies and series from NBCUniversal’s Peacock streaming service.

“As the exclusive home to the Peacock Preview channel, our millions of WatchFree+ viewers have access to a world-class collection of hit shows, originals, and beloved Peacock titles,” said Katherine Pond, Group Vice President, Platform Content & Partnerships at VIZIO.