Millions of TV viewers to receive free documentary channel ‘in weeks’ – and it airs a popular David Attenborough show
MILLIONS of TV viewers are set to receive a new free channel “in the coming weeks” that specialises in documentaries, according to broadcaster UKTV.
The channel airs popular show David Attenborough’s Natural Curiosities, which sees the British biologist examine natures most mysterious creatures and plants.
Eden, a factual channel from on-demand Dave broadcaster UKTV, is finally going free-to-air after being released from a pay-for Sky contract.
Sky and UKTV have renegotiated their pay TV carriage deal, which now only covers comedy channel Gold and crime drama channel Alibi.
It is the first time Freeview, Freesat and Freely viewers will be able to access the documentary channel, UKTV confirmed to Cord Busters.
As part of the move, the channel will be rebranded as U&Eden and take on an updated logo as it adopts UKTV’s recent ‘U’ rebrand.
The channel was formally launched in 2009 as a natural history channel, and features episodes of Expedition with Steve Backshall and Shipwreck Secrets.
However, it has recently pivoted towards medical reality and other factual series and documentaries, airing shows like Inside the Ambulance, Dr Christian Will See You Now, Abandoned Engineering and Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown.
The exact date that Eden will arrive on Freeview, Freesat and Freely is not yet known, but it will be soon.
What is Freely?
Freely is the country's newest way to watch TV without an aerial, from the makers of Freeview and Freesat.
It is a platform that comes built into select smart TVs after launching in April this year.
Freely is operated by the main broadcasters, BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 via an umbrella company known as Everyone TV.
This means it has full access to the content that comes out of the UK’s Big Four broadcasters – that’s around 70,000 hours worth of content, according to Freely.
The platform hosts big-hits like The Traitors, I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!, Happy Valley, Doctor Who, Married at First Sight and Strictly Come Dancing.
Through Freely, viewers can watch live TV channels, as well as access streaming apps like Netflix, Disney+, Apple TV and now U.
Just days ago, UKTV added U&Dave, U&Drama, U&W and U&Yesterday to Freely, the UK’s newest streaming platform.
The move means viewers no longer require an aerial to view much of UKTV’s content.
The four new additions, as well as new click-through icon for the U app (formerly known as UKTV Play), will be added to Freely in an upcoming update this month.
U now boasts nearly 8,500 hours of content, which is up from roughly 1,500 hours at the start of 2024, according to UKTV.