Broadcaster UKTV, the company behind Dave, Gold and Yesterday, has launched four new free online-only channels.
- The channels will offer curated access to some of UKTV’s most popular shows.
- Watch the four channels now via Samsung TV Plus in the UK on Samsung Smart TVs, mobiles and tablets.
- The channels will launch on Pluto TV UK on Thursday 24th August, becoming available on platforms including Virgin Media.
The channels are the latest in a rapidly growing number of FAST (free ad-supported streaming television) channels being launched on online platforms.
The new UKTV services carry the UKTV Play branding, aligning them with UKTV’s streaming and catch-up TV platform.
▶ What are the new channels?
UKTV Play Full Throttle
(Samsung TV Plus channel 4204, Factual section)
The channel aims to take viewers to the skies, the tracks or the road, with shows packed with planes, trains, cars and more.
Shows include:
- Bangers & Cash,
- Architecture the Railways Built,
- Warbird Workshop,
- Yianni: Supercar Customiser, S
- Secrets of the Railways,
- Train Truckers,
- Impossible Railways,
- Secrets of the London Underground
- Modern Wheels or Classic Steals.
UKTV Play Heroes
(Samsung TV Plus channel 4203, Factual section)
Heroes allows viewers to join frontline medics and police at life’s most dramatic moments, with stories of the everyday heroism of paramedics, doctors, nurses and the police.
The channel features
- Emma Willis: Delivering Babies,
- Inside the Ambulance,
- 999: Rescue Squad,
- Special Ops: Crime Squad,
- Cop Car Workshop,
- Inside the Operating Theatre,
- Nurses Down Under
- The Shift: Women on the Force.
UKTV Play Laughs
(Samsung TV Plus channel 4104, Entertainment section)
UKTV Play Laugh invites comedy lovers to sit back, relax and lose themselves in the lighter side of life, with shows starring some of the biggest names in comedy in
- Hypothetical,
- Mel Giedroyc: Unforgivable,
- Judge Romesh
- Comedians Giving Lectures.
UKTV Play Uncovered
(Samsung TV Plus channel 4202, Factual section)
A channel for enquiring minds and delves into the darkest corners of history and engineering. Featured titles include:
- Abandoned Engineering
- Forbidden History,
- World War 2 From Above,
- War Factories,
- History Hunters,
- Warbird Workshop,
- World War Weird,
- World War 2 Frontlines
- Secret Nazi Bases.
Receiving these channels
Samsung TV Plus is built in to all newer smart TVs, although some TVs in Freesat mode will need switching back to DTV Terrestrial mode to access TV Plus services. The channels are found above 4000 in the channel guide. Most newer Samsung phones and tablets also include access to the service, for streaming on the go.
The Pluto TV app is available on a wide variety of smart TVs and streaming devices, plus on mobile and tablet. Earlier this year, Virgin Media added the Pluto TV app across all of its current range of receivers giving cable and IPTV users access to the channels. Some channels featured on Pluto TV (but not the UKTV ones) are even available directly from the main channel list.
Channels will automatically scale up to HD quality subject to your internet bandwidth. While these channels are free-to-view, access to these services on a mobile internet connection will count toward your data allowance.
The FAST launch has been led by UKTV’s Director of Advertising, Sarah Goldman and Head of Distribution, Philipp Pfister, with oversight from Jonathan Newman, General Manager, Commercial. For playout and distribution services on the partner platforms, UKTV worked with Amagi, a specialist in cloud-based SaaS technology for broadcast and connected TV.
Marc Thornham
[Images: Screenshots, UKTV]