Freely’s Live UK Broadband TV Stream Service Goes Live TODAY UPDATE
Major broadcasters including the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 will this morning come together to launch their new stream service called Freely, which has been in development for a while now and is designed to be an evolution of the existing broadband internet based Freeview (inc. Freeview Play and Freesat) TV service.
Freeview Play is today a rather dated platform and one that remains centred around on-demand content, while Freely viewers will be able to easily browse and watch live UK TV channels together with on-demand content streamed straight to their smart TV via the internet (IPTV) – without the need for an aerial connection or new set-top-box (depending upon device support).
Freely will not be replacing the Freeview and Freesat platforms and should, at least for now, be seen as more of a complement – a different kind of service that helps to make broadcast TV more accessible. The change is important because the age of traditional TV signals, which came via the airwaves, is expected to gradually come to an end as gigabit-capable broadband nears almost universal UK coverage by 2030 (currently c.82%).
In fact, Everyone TV claims some 15% (around 4 million) of UK TV homes are already considered to be IP-only (broadband-only), fuelled in part by commercial streaming services like Netflix, Sky Glass, Amazon Prime and so forth – this figure is then forecast to reach more than half of UK homes by 2030 (c.15m). Put another way, Freely is about trying to “futureproof live TV for the streaming age“.
The launch of this service today means that it will be available through the “next generation of smart TVs now on sale in stores and online“, such as from manufacturers like Hisense and stores like Currys, Argos, AO and Very. In addition, TiVo (Xperi Inc.) will be offering Freely as part of its TiVo OS platform, starting with Vestel’s TiVo powered smart TVs (this is due to launch in the “coming weeks“).
Manufacturers make the TV hardware, whereas the TV OS partner run the software platform on the TV. Freely is partnering with both manufacturers and OS providers.
Kieran Clifton, Director, BBC Distribution & Business Development, said:
“The launch of Freely is a historic moment for UK television. Collaboration between the UK PSBs is critical to connecting and protecting all audiences as we transition towards the streaming era – and delivering live TV over broadband for free is a ground-breaking innovation that will futureproof public service broadcasting.”
Martin Goswami, ITV Group Strategic Partnerships Director, said:
“The success and impact of programmes like ITV’s Mr Bates vs the Post Office shows the importance of UK PSBs and ITV is proud to be part of this exciting new chapter for free TV in this country with Freely. Bringing live streamed channels and on demand content together in Freely gives viewers the opportunity to access the very best in British content as easily as possible, from live and recent programmes to a wealth of on-demand options.”
The first iterations of Freely may now be present in the UK market, although it still needs further development and to secure additional smart TV, operating system and content partners in order to be successful (some will follow over the next few weeks). Homes connected via IP-only and those using a hybrid IP and DTT (digital terrestrial TV) connection may also initially “experience varying channel offerings” as Freely continues to develop.
Freely’s technical specification claims to support the “latest technical video and audio coding technologies“. The combination of these newer standards with IP distribution should allow the efficient delivery of many more HD versions of the UK’s most popular channels than are currently available on existing (bandwidth constrained) broadcast platforms. But while Freely provides the option of distributing these at HD or UHD (4K) resolutions, the choice of video format is ultimately made by channel operators.
The new platform is due to receive additional features and software updates as it develops, which will also take place over the coming weeks, months and years. The official website also has a channel guide.
UPDATE 10:48am
In regard to channel selection, specifically that mention of how homes connected via IP-only and those using a hybrid IP and DTT (digital terrestrial TV) connection may initially “experience varying channel offerings”, we’ve been given a bit more information.
According to Freely, the following link shows the channel line-up for if you connect Freely via IP and DTT (hybrid):
https://www.freely.co.uk/tv-guide
By comparison, this link shows the channel selection for a TV connected via IP only (this will of course continue to grow as more partners are added):
The current Freely website doesn’t make this distinction very clear, but we’ve been informed that a banner will shortly be added to help clarify this.
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook and Linkedin.
« Local Artists Paint Some of Freedom Fibre’s UK Broadband Cabinets
Leave a Reply
Privacy Notice: Please note that news comments are anonymous, which means that we do NOT require you to enter any real personal details to post a message. By clicking to submit a post you agree to storing your comment content, display name, IP, email and / or website details in our database, for as long as the post remains live.
Only the submitted name and comment will be displayed in public, while the rest will be kept private (we will never share this outside of ISPreview, regardless of whether the data is real or fake). This comment system uses submitted IP, email and website address data to spot abuse and spammers. All data is transferred via an encrypted (https secure) session.
NOTE 1: Sometimes your comment might not appear immediately due to site cache (this is cleared every few hours) or it may be caught by automated moderation / anti-spam.
NOTE 2: Comments that break our rules, spam, troll or post via known fake IP/proxy servers may be blocked or removed.
Latest UK ISP News
- FTTP (5584)
- BT (3534)
- Politics (2555)
- Openreach (2313)
- Business (2285)
- Building Digital UK (2253)
- FTTC (2050)
- Mobile Broadband (1993)
- Statistics (1800)
- 4G (1682)
- Virgin Media (1640)
- Ofcom Regulation (1474)
- Fibre Optic (1407)
- Wireless Internet (1402)
- FTTH (1382)
Available now but no sign of what channels it actually offers?
How is that not the first question anyone with the press release asks?
The goal seems to be to give you the same choice as DTTV. You could of course visit their TV Guide on the linked website.
https://www.freely.co.uk/tv-guide?userNid=64865
The channel list is here!
https://www.freely.co.uk/help/faqs/channel-list
They come up with a Pluto for Freeview, freely never gonna be as good as live TV because of the Internet streaming delay” which is useless for live sport..
freely would be great as a App ..
could easily put Freely on Google TV Roku Apple TV smart phones computers tablets vr headsets projector etc etc..
Complete waste of time and money if you’re just going to put it on a few TV sets
They come up with a Pluto for Freeview, freely never gonna be as good as live TV because of the Internet streaming delay” which is useless for live sport..
freely would be great as a App ..
could easily put Freely on Google TV Roku Apple TV smart phones computers tablets vr headsets projector etc etc.
Complete waste of time and money if you’re just going to put it on a few TV sets
Hmm looking at it seems to imply it’s only available in certain TV’s, not any set top boxes which is a shame. Apples TV box is screaming for something like this all in one app as no one else supports it, yet individual apps like Now TV, iPlayer etc offer live streaming on it. But it would be nice to have an app like this to have it all in one app. Hopefully they’ll expand the platforms it supports.
The more platforms the better for sure.
Initially a number of platforms, but personally, I would think BT TV and YouView probably won’t be around long term. Depending on platform architecture, it may even allow BT for example to hook in extra stuff meaning they don’t have to maintain their own platform. Apps like Now TV would still be on Freely.
Would this help?
https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/tv-launcher-live-uk-channels/id1622598042
Will it be available in a set top box like you could get a freeview HD box for HD Ready TV’s that didn’t have a DVB-T2 tuner built in?
Could be in the future but for now seems they’re focusing on getting it directly into smart TVs. Dumb TVs aren’t really a thing anymore so I see their point.
Who is going to get a new TV just too get what you can already get of Freeview or Freesat?
This is just the first steps to building a new replacement platform. Come 2028 sky will lose access to the satellites they use which is why they are pushing everything to their new Stream service. 2030 Freesat Will lose access to the satellite they use and will shut down.
Freely replaces Freesat and Freeview.
Right now, might not be with it for some but all channels are full HD by default, where Freeview is being left to rot with SD channels because we are babysitting those who haven’t bothered to upgrade to HD TVs/boxes. 🙂
The 6 Freeview multiplexes have limited capacity (not to mention that a lot of relay sites only carry the 3 PSB muxes) whereas with Freely it can pretty much carry an infinite amount of services so an add on box for an existing TV in future may be a good option.
@Bob
Nobody. There is no need to. Freeview and Freesat are not going anywhere just yet.
As and when people get new TVs they will simply come with Freely built in rather than Freeview.
this is great news, but it would be preferable to have the Freely software on a fixed STB with the ability to record. hopeful for the future!
Freely won’t be supporting recording – it’s all about the streaming. Only BT/EE TV seem to allow recording of streamed channels.
Initially no, the TVs rely on catchup services. Over time or if a set top box comes available, they may add this, especially if public pressure but the recordings would be encrypted.
it looks almost the same as bt/ee tv to me
But is free
It will only gain traction once it’s available on inexpensive devices such as the Fire TV stick, if that is technically possible. If not, it’s pretty well doomed. Consumers are keeping their tvs longer as their is less reason to change
Seems odd not to release it as an app at launch for the most popular devices like Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, Roku etc.
Initially, controlled hardware, agreed middleware support for DRM etc. To get TV manufacturers to integrate, this is probably why. Its to start the wave of acceptance into television hardware rather than any old streaming stick where the TV does not boot into the platform as default.
Yay, existing smart TVs with Freeview Play will gradually get dumber. Seriously, who thought it would be a good idea to permanently attach the “smarts” to the TV? It’s great for TV manufacturers if you have to replace your TV every 5-10 years to retain the smart functionality, but for the rest of us?
Consumer demand has likely played a part as well, either due to ‘ignorance’ or wanting the AIO aspect.
Probably the worst case I encountered was some older customer wanting a ‘NowTV TV’, I showed her the £20 Now TV Stick but she demanded the nonexistent product so she eventually bought a different £200+ TV instead with the streaming services she wanted.
Note: I don’t receive commission and I gave her the closest to what she wanted.
My Hisense has roku built in, in theory it could be updated to support Freely if they wanted to, but they won’t because they will try and push people to buy a new TV. My Tv will still do the same thing in 10 or 15 years. but then I don’t watch live TV and the only time I connected my TV to the aerial was when I first got it just to make sure the tuner was working.
I have no intention of paying for the BBC
Roku would also want to charge their “toll” (including ability to inject adverts I believe), and Roku also has particular integration requirements to enable voice search, cross app search, “cookie” tracking and advert injection.
Much of this was the heart of the tiff Roku had with YouTube that almost resulted in withdrawal of YouTube app from Roku (and is also why some other streaming services like twitch refuse to offer a Roku app).
I suspect some of the freely partners will stick with individual channel apps on Roku (and some other platforms) for the foreseeable future, even when Roku is embedded into the TV as the “smarts”
What is it with releasing stuff that is clearly not ready? People who do buy a TV with it will use Freely, things will not work and they will give up with it and then it will fail.
The reason why DAB radio have failed is that it was and still is rubbish.
Without a low cost way of receiving it this service seems to be doomed to fail
It won’t fail. Its ultimately the replacement for DTT and DSAT (but not overnight).
Most people have broadband and social tariffs available, most of which can easily support this. FTTP is rolling out at fast pace in most areas, and by the time the end of DTT/SAT is near, FTTP should be the norm, 6G might even be out by then. Sky already starting to push Sky Stream over Satellite installation now…..
Software upgrades add functionality. Most people know not to get 1st gen stuff except those that are really interested and can afford it.
@anonymous, It doesn’t matter if FTTP is rolling out at fast pace or not, and even with social broadband tariffs you are still looking at £15 to £20 a month, yes there may be some that charge less, but most are around the £15 to £20 a month range. There are people who don’t want to pay out for home broadband or can’t afford to, even that little amount per month. Also, who is to say how much it will cost by the time they decide to switch Freeview off?
I chat to people online that don’t have broadband in the home and do everything online on their phone, they say for what they do it works out cheaper.
We don’t know what will happen in the future, when I was at college and got my ZX81 I never thought we would be watching video the way we do now or listen to music.
Freeview will be here for another 20 years at least for the main channels. We were told years ago that FM would be shut down and we would all be using DAB, umm, that worked 🙂
They have to start somewhere, I suspect apps and boxes will come later, I believe they haven’t ruled it out.
The WRC agreed not to reframe the frequencies currently used for DTT in Europe and UK in 2030 over to mobile use as previously planned however I wouldn’t be surprised if DTT is switched off around 2035. So it’s less a case of if this fails and more; If folks want to still receive FTA channels, it’s gonna be IP or, for as long as broadcasters maintain expensive transponder contracts with ASTRA for satellite distribution. Ultimately, this is gonna happen, they have to make it a success.
I also using TV only as monitor for Nvidia Shield.
Have Hisense TV (hate it’s colours), but never used it’s apps, just tested Viidaa Tv.
So, while it’s not on apps, it’s useless service.
P.s. advertising that need on Wifi, so don’t need internet? 🙂
‘Freely is the latest (and greatest) way to do free TV. No more app-switching to track down your fave live and on demand shows from all the big channels, now you can find everything in one place. And did we mention, it’s freeeee?!’
Apparently it’s all free so cancel those TV licences guys!
Nope, it says in their FAQ about that. Its a cross-broadcaster platform not just BBC. The platform access is free, subject to pertaining a license fee as live tv is distributed on there.
I did wonder how long it would take for the anti-license (aka anti-paying) brigade to start on here.
Indeed … services such as this should not be considered “free” nor should they be offered as such, especially while anachronistic and increasingly unenforceable TVL scam is still a thing.
@anonymous, If Freeview was switch off, it would make it easier for the BBc to be funded by subscription or for people to enter their TV licence number. So people like myself who don’t have a licence could still access the other live channels. This could be the beginning of the end of the TV licence.
I don’t see why legally I can’t watch live TV on other channels just because I don’t want to pay for the BBC.
‘I don’t see why legally I can’t watch live TV on other channels just because I don’t want to pay for the BBC.’
The law is pretty clear on this, so legally it’s pretty tied up.
https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/about/foi-legal-framework-AB16#:~:text=It%20is%20an%20offence%20under,a%20fee%20to%20the%20BBC
@XGS, I know what the law is, but it is an outdated law to support an outdated corporation.
ad47uk in your opinion but not everyone shares yours. The news story is not about the license fee though.
You said you couldn’t see legally why, I pointed you to the law. You may not agree with it but it’s the legal explanation.
Different countries fund their public service broadcasters in various ways but they are funded be it via taxes or levies on subscription services.
@anonymous, in a lot of people’s opinion and increasing, by the time Freeview do close down there may not be enough people watching linier TV to make it worthwhile. Lots of things can happen in that time., the licence may even cease to exist,by that time, we can wish
@XGS, what you say is true, but it just shows how backward we are in this country when we have to support an out of date system with an out of date Corporation.
As for other countries, I really don’t care what they do, I don’t live in these countries, I live here in the UK, where get sent intimidating letters from a company that will then send their bully boys, not that they have sent anyone to my place for a few years even if they do keep threatening.
I do get their letters, I keep them so I can chuck them at the bully boys if they dare to show their face here.
You should probably care what other countries do: without the licence public service broadcast may use one of their models. Paid out of general taxation, a levy on other TV services or other products, lots of ways.
Careful what you ask for, you might get it.
Looking forward to this when Sony launch a new model incorporating it.
I am guessing it will be available for HiSense only otherwise they would create AndroidTV, Roku, Apple, FireTV apps. Yet another service to target you with ads.
“TVs now on sale in stores and online” – so what are the actual model numbers of these Hisense TVs with Freely? Had a quick look on the listed retailers websites but couldn’t see any mention of Freely? Is anywhere actually selling a Freely TV or is this a soft launch with no actual product available to buy?
Anytime from next couple of weeks. Currys will have them as will others.
So, what are we actually looking at here at a technical level? Is it using h265 as it’s codec, and how is it wrapped for delivery? Is it based on DVB-I?
Taking this a step further, will it be possible to add this to systems like Plex or Emby?
Freely seem to be saying that choice is down to the broadcaster, and they can support a variety of standards.
H264 for live channels, on demand may use H265. Not based on DVB-I but uses established hbbtv. And no to Plex or Emby as the hardware has a cert I believe which can only be got by an approved list.
Seems like a pretty soft launch… would of expected to see it available on Fire TV and Android TV devices with some development in Roku maybe….
At the moment seems like they are just replacing Freeview Play for new TV purchases meaning at some point they’ll probably obsolete Freeview Play leaving many TV’s lacking a feature.
looooool, so they literally created a service that works only on selected HiSense TVs? No support for AndroidTV, FireTV, Apple, Roku, so I am guessing HiSense sponsored this. Good luck I am not going to buy HiSense.
HiSense and Vestel with Tivo powered TV are the first manufacturers with devices.
Others will follow, probably next year, but for launch, HiSense probably had the fastest turn around for panel integration and manufacture.
I am not planning to buy another TV for a very long time and I am sure there are plenty of people who think the same way. My last set lasted for 13 years, in fact it still works, just started to get a little dull, TV sets will normally last for years unless you are unlucky.
Unless there is some super fantastic new technology that we can be without, then people will keep their own sets and to be honest there have been no super fantastic technology TV wise for years. Going from CRT was one and maybe HD was another, but while 4K is nice, it was not the thing to get people buying a new TV for it, for a start it is not available on Terrestrial.
That is a thought, will Freely support 4K? I presume it is up to the broadcasters.
Freely supports 4K as iPlayer content is sometimes 4K. Broadcast channels will be regular HD, but at some point they could either switch to 4K should those channels switch to 4K output or switch for specific programmes that were made in 4K.
No, other will not follow. This is already dead end. If they wanted this to be popular then they would release the app for all major platform.
Freely might be streamed by using HbbTV but I’m not sure whether devices like Roku, Fire TV Stick, etc, support the HbbTV platform, because if they don’t Freely will just be a bit-part player.
@anonymous, what have Iplayer got to do with supporting 4K? I thought Freely was going to be a separate system or is it going to link into different apps like Freeview play does? If it is going to do that then it will be useless, people don’t want to be taken to a different app when they change from watching their Eastenders to Coronation street. This is the reason why Freeview play is such load of rubbish
It makes no odds to me as I already use different apps, Disney+ app, Amazon Prime video App, ITV x app, YouTube and once in a while Channel 5 App, so I am used to different apps, but a lot of people just want to press the number for their channel and up it comes.
So Iplayer supporting 4K, should not make any difference to Freely, I hope the BBC does a better job with 4K then they did with Hd on Freeview, because compared to Channel 4HD, BBC was total and complete rubbish.
Launching on TVs first means fewer people, which allows them to iron out issues without getting a bad press. If an app had launched first then it would be hard to control the numbers of users unless they did a waiting list. My guess would be that a box will come next followed by an app on other streaming devices/smart tvs. That way they can control its growth.
I think they are purposely not releasing it as an app for existing devices as the intention is that it’s your EPG in the same way YouView is – when you set a new TV up the idea is that you pick whether you’re using DTT via an antenna, Freesat, or Freely, and the TV is configured accordingly. Making it just an app wouldn’t provide the integration that is needed if this is going to be an eventual replacement for DTT where it has first-party access to the channel buttons on the remote control etc.
i feel like they have over complicated this.
people dont want a hybrid service (isnt that youview/freeview play is) keep that as it is for aerial users.
what people want is freeview over broadband (same set of channles) without the need for an aerial/satellite.
its crazy to think in 2024 you still cant do this.
An aerial is not required if you read the article, it isn’t hybrid. If channels are missing it will be because the broadcaster may not yet be ready.
I would be interested in knowing more about how this works at a technical level.
Freeview and Freesat were built around open standards (DVB).
I understand the argument for requiring accounts for apps like BBC iPlayer but if the linear channels (streams) on the Freely EPG simply redirect you to the associated app requiring a login before you can view them this will detract from the plug-and-play nature that made Freeview “just work”.
Not wishing to generalise but could see some elderly folk getting confused if they buy a TV and it does not “just work” requiring a complex setup procedure and accounts for each broadcaster.
The TV boots into Freely automatically. Its NOT an app. The integration with terrestrial catch up is also more integrated so you don’t have to keep going into external apps using EPG timelines.
You turn TV on and picture appears unless a signal fault. Initially hybrid, eventually all IPTV.
This is a great start for the IPTV generation. What will drive adoption is apps on the major streaming devices, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon etc. Cant wait for this on Apple TV.
Absolutely useless without free apps for most platforms…
Even Channel 4 isn’t on androidTV yet. It’s a joke of a mess. If you want people to watch your content, make it available.
Longer term the existing terrestrial network will close down so a transition to a steaming services is needed, Freely though just seems to over complicate it and offers little benefit. All that was really needed was a single integrated interface for the existing Freeview streaming services
And Freely will (eventually) have all those services over IP to the TV. The TV boots into Freely software, you don’t have to elect to run Freely like an app. Catch-up is integrated more. This is gen1 software, over the next 2 years there will be many software updates.
agree.
when it was first announced it seemed like it was going to freeview over broadband,
theyve over complicated this.
keep freeview play for aerial users and have freely as an app on every device possible, Sticks, consoles, tablets etc.
I hope Freely is eventually available on other devices such as Android phones, Google TV, Chromecasts etc as that would help increase its reach.
Secondly, I hope it offers better picture quality than Freeview which in my opinion, is pretty poor. I know the picture quality is likely down to the mux trying to squeeze in as many channels as possible.
I will not be buying a new TV just for Freely, though.
yep, until its available as app on streaming sticks, this is useless.
Which hisense TVs have freely. I can’t seem to find any that say they do. Freeview doesn’t work where we are but with have fttp. This is perfect. Any models numbers would be perfect.