Very quietly and without much publicity, part-time channels on Freeview are going full time, and becoming available with improved picture quality.
- Freeview Play users benefit from combination of terrestrial broadcasts and streaming.
- But streamed programmes don’t always appear on the Freeview TV Guide.
In the beginning, part-time shopping channels took up the option to complement their limited Freeview hours with streaming. But in the past 12 months, a growing number of entertainment channels have started to make use of the ability to fuse terrestrial and streaming together.
Depending on the time of day, viewers will either see a programme delivered via traditional terrestrial broadcasting or something that’s streamed to their TV.
Streamed broadcasts are often upscaled to HD or in HD, offering better picture quality than traditional broadcasts. The picture quality is ultimately dependent on your internet speed, the quality of your wi-fi and the processing power of your device.
The downside is that streamed programmes can’t be recorded. Additionally, Freeview’s TV guide doesn’t reflect whether a programme on a channel will be streamed or broadcast over the airwaves. On some occasions, the Freeview guide will not list streamed programmes at all. Instead, the Freeview guide will only list terrestrially broadcast programmes, but this is not consistent.
Why are some Freeview streaming channels not grouped with other streaming channels?
Freeview has a dedicated section above channel 260 for streaming channels.
But if a channel is available over the airwaves for at least a couple of hours a day, it qualifies to be listed in the main part of the Freeview channel list, even if it’s streaming for most of the time. This includes the channels listed below.
Viewers might see a message about Ofcom regulation when they switch on. This is because some streamed services broadcast from outside of Ofcom’s jurisdiction. This could mean, for example, that viewers may see post-watershed content before 9pm. However, the channels listed below do hold Ofcom licences and the content on That’s TV and Together TV are simulcasts of what’s already available on other platforms, including Sky.
▶ Freeview channels that stream most of the time
Listed among traditional broadcast channels, you’ll need to have a compatible connected Freeview device to watch them unless you’re up in the early hours…
Channel 61 – GREAT! Movies Extra
📺 Terrestrially live between 04:00-06:00, streaming at all other times
Press Red and you’ll access the GREAT! Movies streaming channel, the same as the service offered on Samsung TV Plus with a nearly 30 second time delay.
Unfortunately, what you’ll see is a mystery, as there’s no programme guide on Freeview. If you have a Samsung mobile, you can always check the title of the film that’s on now and what’s on next by going to the TV Plus app, and finding GREAT! movies in the movie section.
Channel 62 – GREAT! tv+1
📺 Terrestrially live between 03:00-05:00, streaming at all other times
On connected devices, selecting this channel will not display the programme advertised on the guide. Instead, it will automatically launch the GREAT! player, which opens up programmes from the GREAT! network that you can watch on-demand. You’ll only actually see GREAT! tv+1 content between 3 and 5am in the morning.
Channel 63 – GREAT! Christmas mix/romance mix
📺 Terrestrially live between 03:00-05:00, streaming at all other times
Pressing red will take you to the GREAT! Christmas/romance streaming channel, which again is identical to the content available on the Samsung TV Plus version of GREAT! Christmas/romance. The channel is known as GREAT! Christmas Mix from September to early January, after which it reverts back to GREAT! Romance.
Channel 71 – That’s 60s
📺 Terrestrially live between 04:00-06:00, streaming at all other times
Channels operated by That’s TV have recently been reshuffled. Their 60s music channel is currently broadcasting on channel 71. Pressing red will give you access to 1960s tunes all day.
Channel 75 – That’s 90s
📺 Terrestrially live between 03:00-09:00, streaming at all other times
A newcomer to Freeview, That’s 90s terrestrial broadcast hours are limited to early mornings and breakfast time. Unlike the 1990s, we no longer have dial-up internet, so pressing red at all other times opens up a live stream of the channel delivered by much faster broadband internet…
Channel 83 – Together TV
📺 Terrestrially live between 05:00-08:00, streaming at all other times
The home of shows including Edwardian Farm, Garden Rescue and The Yorkshire Dales and The Lakes only comes to life via the terrestrial airwaves during its early morning teleshopping slot.
Unlike the aforementioned channels, this one will automatically load without pressing red, although the time it takes to load varies considerably, depending on device. It’s +1 is streaming on channel 285. The +1 sits over 200 slots further down the channel list, as it doesn’t broadcast terrestrially at all.
Channel 65 (That’s Christmas) also streams when it is unavailable over the airwaves. Unlike the above examples, the channel is available most of the time as a traditional Freeview broadcast (09:00-03:00). Streaming only applies for the six hour period between 03:00 and 09:00.
Some channels including QVC also offer access to extra streaming channels via the red button.
For the coming years, Everyone TV, the company behind Freeview and Freesat, is planning to launch a purely streamed service called ‘Freely‘. This is designed to become Freeview’s successor in the long-term. Given the interest shown already in launching streaming services and hybrid streaming services, it seems Freely will be a very attractive proposition to a whole new group of online-only broadcasters.
Marc Thornham