Freely Streaming Service To Add 16 New Live Channels
The Freely live TV streaming platform is about to be bolstered by the addition of no less than 16 new channels from three of the U.K.'s biggest terrestrial broadcasters.
Launched in April 2024 with the backing of the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5, Freely enables viewers to watch U.K. terrestrial broadcast channels live over the Internet rather than needing to have an aerial fitted to the house – and the 16 new additions will increase the number of channels Freely carries to more than 55 once they launch later in the year.
Freely will be adding 16 new channels to its streamed channel list before the end of 2025.
Two of the new channels are being provided by ITV, three are being provided by Channel 4, and 11 come courtesy of Channel 5, with the full breakdown as follows:
* ITV will be launching a channel dedicated to popular quiz show The Chase, alongside a Saturday Night Every Night channel dedicated to a mixture of quiz, game and talent shots.
* Channel 4's trio of Freely additions will be 4Reality, 4Homes and 4Life. As their names suggest, these focus respectively on: reality TV, with programmes such as Married At First Sight; home renovation, interior design and new property shows such as Grand Designs; and lifestyle programming covering travel, food and animals in shows such as The Dog House.
* Channel 5's 11 additions cover a broad range of content, with five actually being exclusive to Freely. The five exclusive ones are 'GPs Behind Closed Doors', 'The Yorkshire Vet', 'History', 'Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly', and a channel dedicated to pre-school show 'Milkshake!'. The other six are "Police Interceptors'", 'Cops', 'Bargain Loving Brits', "Trucking Hell", 'Crime' and 'A&E'.
The new Freely channels include a mix of lifestyle, reality and children's programming from three of ... More the U.K.'s biggest terrestrial broadcasters.
That's not actually the end of the channel expansion for owners of some Freely-capable TV brands, though. Everyone TV, the company responsible for Freely, has also revealed that owners of Hisense and Toshiba TVs that carry the Freely service will be getting a further 80-plus channels courtesy of the VIDAA smart platform's Free Ad-supported Streaming TV (FAST) service. These will be added to the Freely TV guide on compatible TVs from channel number 1001, and will include such channels as Sony ONE, CNN, Sky, and Banijay.
These new 'live' streamed channels are joined on the Freely platform by what's currently claimed to be more than 70,000 hours of on demand content, which the Freely interface enables users to access seamlessly alongside all the live channels.
While Hisense and Toshiba Freely TVs will be the only ones to get the new FAST channels because they carry the necessary VIDAA smart system, other Freely TVs from Bush, Panasonic, Sharp, TCL, Amazon and METZ will all be able to enjoy the 16 new ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 offerings.
These new channels join deals Freely has signed since it launched with content partners that include UKTV, AMC Networks International and PBS America. A full list of all the channels currently available on Freely can be found at this link.
Freely can't currently put a definite date on when the new ITV, Channel 5 and Channel 5 shows will definitely be available, saying only that they are set to launch in 2025. The VIDAA FAST channels, though, are set to be integrated into the Freely TV Guide on Hisense and Toshiba TVs in the coming month.
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