Hybrid streaming channels available on Freeview will be subject to changes later this summer following an industry consultation on channel changes.
- Some channel numbers will change to create space for new services
- Follows a boom in the number of broadcasters opting to stream their services to Freeview audiences rather than pay for a regular terrestrial broadcast slot.
Providers of hybrid streaming channels on Freeview, including Al Jazeera, FIlmstream, France 24 and Talk have been notified of an impending change to the Freeview service that will affect viewers later this summer.
Following an industry consultation in May, Everyone TV – the company behind Freeview – has confirmed it will be conducting a reshuffle of services shortly.
The past two years has seen the number of streaming channels rapidly expand on Freeview, with a range of news, international, religious and niche channels opting to reach Freeview viewers via streaming rather than pay for a regular broadcast slot.
Hybrid streaming channels are currently found above channel 263 on the Freeview channel guide.
The most recent addition to the platform – Extreme Channel – was allocated channel 295, leaving just four slots left before the section is full.
The plan…
To create more space, Everyone TV will begin shuffling all services down, so they start at channel 251, filling up the currently empty channel numbers in the 250s.
Confirmation of the exact re-ordering is yet to be confirmed, but could mean for example that France 24, now on channel 266 might get moved to 253 as the current third streaming channel in the Hybrid Streaming channel section of Freeview’s channel list.
The 250s on Freeview’s channel list were once allocated to text-based services, like Teletext Holidays and dating services, which have long since been removed from the platform. Broadcasters have agreed that that as there’s unlikely to be any further demand for such services.
Everyone TV says it’s given affected broadcasters two weeks to respond to its shuffle down plans. The company will then trigger the changes on one of the next monthly Freeview channel change date, when viewers will be asked to retune.
Streaming services that are allocated slots in the children’s or adult’s section of the Freeview channel list aren’t affected. These services are being kept apart from other streaming channels. That includes channels like Tiny Pop (channel 208), which switched to streaming-only earlier this year and will remain in the main children’s section.
▶ Explainer: What are hybrid streaming services?
For the purposes of Freeview, a hybrid streaming service transmits a portal via the Digital Terrestrial Television transmitter network which points TVs to an online stream of a channel.
Access to the portal sent via the transmitter network to your aerial and TV is via an HbbTV-based app*, which runs when you select the channel number of the hybrid streaming service. *MHEG-IC on older TVs.
The data sent via the transmitter network also includes the channel number, plus TV guide information.
As a result, you need both internet and terrestrial TV to access these services. If you don’t have a terrestrial TV signal (for example, you don’t have an aerial plugged in to your TV, you miss out.
Everyone TV wants to discourage this type of service going forward, with the launch of Freeview successor Freely. While these hybrid streaming services are also available on Freely TVs that are plugged into a TV aerial and within coverage, they’ve been relegated to below channel 550 on the list. Pure streaming services – those that don’t rely on a hybrid solution – will be allocated higher slots on the TV guide.
By: Marc Thornham | Image: Freeview promo/DTV Services Ltd