The first TVs to feature Freely, the new broadband TV service from the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5, are now available from selected high street and online retailers.
The subscription-free service delivers live channels over broadband – with no need for a dish or aerial – alongside catch-up content from the broadcasters’ respective on-demand apps.
The TVs available today are being described as the “first iterations” of Freely, “with additional features and software updates” being promised “as the service develops”.
Ultimately users will be able to browse channels via a familiar programme guide, search for catch-up shows, and browse a curated list of recommended live and on demand content simply by pressing a Freely button on their remote.
They’ll also have a ‘mini guide’ which will pop-up each time they switch channels and be able to pause live channels but, unlike many existing Freeview set top boxes and smart TVs, won’t be able to record shows.
Other broadcasters confirmed to be adding their channels to the service include UKTV, the commercial broadcaster owned by the BBC, plus STV and S4C.
Details of additional smart TV makers, supported operating systems, and content partners are expected to be revealed in the coming months.
In the long-term the service is a possible replacement for Freeview should any future government take the decision to close the existing terrestrial TV network to free up the radio spectrum it uses for other purposes.
Development is being overseen by Everyone TV, a company jointly owned by the four broadcasters which also owns Freesat and is responsible for all technical aspects of Freeview.
Models from Hisense, the first TV maker to sign-up to the new service, are now available from Currys, Argos, AO and Very.
Other models from Vestel, which builds TVs under various brands, are set to hit stores “in the coming weeks” and it’s been revealed today that the first of these will be powered by the TiVo OS platform.
Despite Freely’s owners previously hailing it as a “game-changing” innovation, the need for a new service is unclear as multiple TV makers already offer streamed channels through their existing programme guides and could include channels from the four broadcasters behind Freely if permitted to do so.
In addition, live TV viewing is in “long-term decline” according to media regulator Ofcom which estimates it now accounts for just 44% of all viewing as UK audiences increasingly move to watching via catch-up and subscription apps.