I got a first look at free new Sky TV rival from BBC and ITV – it uses Wi-Fi but don’t ditch your aerial just yet
BRITS will soon be able to beam free live TV into their living room via the internet rather than an aerial as the owner of Freeview prepares to launch a brand new product.
No more bad signal issues or having to rescan – and forget banging on at your landlord to fix the aerial that never seemed to work.
Freely is born from the owner of Freeview and Freesat – Everyone TV – which itself is owned by the UK’s main broadcasters, BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5.
The Sun was one of the first to try out the new service for an early hands-on to see if it’s the game-changer we expected.
Sky has already branched into this space with Sky Glass and Sky Stream, and Virgin Media has done the same.
Now it’s time for a free competitor – but there is one major sticking point they will need to fix fast…
Freely features
Freely has a beautiful, simple interface that brings everything tidily together.
Along the bottom there is a neat mini TV guide that shows you a channel logo and image of the programme currently showing.
You can pause for up to 15 minutes, so plenty of time to go and put the kettle on or pop to the loo.
There is a restart button but this is only available to channels that support it – currently only BBC and ITV.
You can also quickly see other episodes from the show on offer with a quick link to their relevant service provider’s app.
Flicking between channels is pretty smooth and seamless too – though bosses couldn’t provide me with a rough idea on how long the delay is compared to traditional broadcasting as the streams are managed by each channel owner.
Channels
At launch, Freely will only offer channels over Wi-Fi from the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 – and UKTV channels are set to follow quite soon after.
So unfortunately you can’t ditch your aerial for good just yet if you want the full range of channels available on Freeview.
Freely is being built into TVs and will be hybrid, so you can have both Wi-Fi and aerial running at the same time.
I think once more channels are available this will be a real game-changer
Eventually, this will hopefully mean a lot more HD channels than Freeview can offer.
Channels are the key ingredient to TV so at the moment Freely feels half-baked.
It definitely has potential but that won’t be reached until the number of channels at least mirrors the number on Freeview.
However, in a world where on-demand matters most, the seamless integration is great, especially when this is all available for free.
Freely availability
Freely is being integrated into new smart TVs that are coming out soon.
This includes models by Hisense, Toshiba, Bush and JVC.
There aren’t currently any plans to launch a set-top box, Amazon Fire Stick rival or app.
So the only way to benefit from Freely will be if you buy a brand new TV.
Freely - Early verdict
Analysis by Jamie Harris, Senior Technology and Science Reporter at The Sun
A free internet-based TV service like this has been a long time coming and I’m relieved the UK is finally there.
Except, we’re not – not quite anyway.
The lack of streamed channels at launch makes the product feel a bit bare bones at the moment.
But it’s a flower waiting to blossom – the technology is there, as is the willpower to keep adding features and, of course, channels.
I think once more channels are available this will be a real game-changer.