YouView set top boxes will be in stores by the end of July, Chairman Lord Alan Sugar announced today.
Developed by the BBC, ITV TalkTalk and BT, YouView uses broadband to deliver on demand and catch-up content in addition to free broadcast channels.
The service is already being trialled in over 2,000 homes.
Sky will also make programming available under its new NOW TV service which will offer a “commitment-free way” of accessing the pay-TV giant’s content.
NOW TV will initially provide films under the Sky Movies brand with sport and entertainment following later.
Scottish broadcaster STV will also be present on the platform.
Announcing the in-store date at an event on London’s Southbank, Lord Sugar said boxes would initially cost £299 but that he expected prices to fall.
He described the launch of the product, which was originally due to ship in 2010, as “a great moment in British television”.
CEO Richard Halton described the service as “easy to use” and said his team look “forward to working with new content partners and developing more functionality as boxes roll out.”
Lord Sugar said: “Our intention with this simple–to-use box is to provide extraordinary TV for everyone, with on-demand services combined with TV channels with an opportunity to search back an entire week to catch what they’ve missed.”
Boxes will be available in two ways; from retailers without subscription and from partner ISPs TalkTalk and BT as part of a phone and broadband package.
TalkTalk says it will set out its YouView proposition at a Strategy Day for Investors later this month.
“YouView is innovative, easy-to-use and perfect for our customers,” said Dido Harding, CEO, TalkTalk. “Youview from TalkTalk will give customers an extraordinary TV experience that is accessible and affordable for all.”
