A growing number of TV manufacturers are adding support for Freely instead of traditional Freeview. That means your TV service will look, feel and behave differently. You’ll gain some services, but could lose others.
- Starting with 2024 TV models, some devices have Freely, not Freeview Play built in
- The channel list will look different and you may be able to watch some channels without your aerial plugged in
- For satellite users, future Freely TVs will have the option to connect to a satellite dish as well.
Launched at the end of April, Freely is a next-generation digital TV platform that aims to become Freeview and Freesat’s successor.
It’s being included in many new TVs, starting with 2024 models and is expected to become standard for most new TV sets in the coming years. Hisense, Bush, Panasonic and Toshiba are among the brands that have either already, or will shortly launch Freely TVs.
Freely replaces support for Freeview/Freeview Play, meaning when you upgrade your TV, you’ll need to look out to see if it includes Freely or Freeview.
At the moment, it pays to carefully examine all the images and specs for a TV to confirm what service is supports. For example, the Hisense 65A6NTUK is clearly promoted on the Hisense website as supporting Freely. But if you search for the same model on a retailer’s website, you may find Freely support listed behind the device’s other features.
In time, buying a new TV may by default mean moving to Freely, as Freeview / Freeview Play models are discontinued.
Retailers promote Freely as enabling you to “view live TV without an aerial”. What’s not pointed out is that you (a) can still use an aerial and (b) need an aerial to watch the full set of channels.
If I buy a TV that supports Freely, how will that affect me?
If your new TV supports Freely, you’ll still be able to connect your TV to an aerial and you’ll still be able to watch the same channels that were available on your old Freeview TV.
But it won’t be quite the same as Freeview.
Different channel numbers
However, many channels beyond the “main five” channels will appear on different channel numbers. For example, Sky Mix appears on Freeview channel 11, but is on channel 23 on Freely TVs.
Freely TVs will prefer internet streams of a channel
Whenever your TV is able to obtain a live stream of a channel via the internet, it will choose this over the version of the channel received through your aerial.
So for example, if your TV can receive BBC One via your aerial, but your TV can connect to the BBC via the internet, it will pick online stream to display on channel 1- providing your internet connection is fast enough. Freely TVs will only accept official streams that are delivered as part of the Freely service, not just any old live stream from the web.
Not all channels can be streamed
Only relatively few channels offer an official stream for Freely devices.
That means you’ll need to plug your aerial in to receive every channel. Want Freely to work without an aerial? You’ll have to make do with fewer channels.
You can compare what’s available on our Freely channel list page.
More HD channels available
As a Freely TV will automatically prefer an HD live stream over an SD feed via your aerial, you stand to receive more HD channels. These will appear by default in place of the SD channels.
On older Freeview TVs, you might find BBC One HD on 101. On more recent Freeview Play TVs, BBC One HD may appear on either 1 or 101 or both. But on Freely, if HD is available, it will be on channel 1. And nowhere else.
All the BBC regions
Unlike on Freeview, with Freely you’re no longer bound to the regional TV service available from your local TV transmitter. The BBC offers every regional version of its channels, plus every BBC Local Radio station. You find these near the bottom of the Freely channel list.
You’ll lose BBC Digital Text
TVs with Freely built-in aren’t required to support the BBC’s Digital Text service, which was built on an outdated platform called MHEG. As a result, if you are buying a new TV, you’ll no longer have access to the BBC text service on the red button. Some TVs will still support MHEG if you change the country selection or disable HbbTV, but that will disable core functionality (Freely relies on HbbTV to function; changing country would also disable Freely).
What happens if my internet goes down?
If your TV loses connection to the internet, it will revert to receiving signals from your aerial instead.
If your TV has lost its internet connection over a longer period of time, it will begin to behave like a normal Freeview TV. It will revert back to the Freeview channel numbering system. That’s because without an internet connection, it can’t connect to the Freely channel list.
▶ OVERVIEW: What are the differences between Freeview, Freeview Play and Freely?
- Freeview was the first generation free-to-air digital terrestrial television service (TV through an aerial). First generation digital TV services did not need an internet connection to work, only offered linear channels and basic text-based apps and were a direct replacement for the old four or five channel analogue TV service.
- Freeview Play added internet functionality, combining the existing digital terrestrial TV with on-demand streaming services and improved accessibility features.
- Freely offers elements of all of the above, but allows broadcasters to offer HD live streams of channels delivered via the internet, falling back to the digital terrestrial TV signal if a live stream isn’t available.
Does Freely offer the same accessibility features that Freeview had?
Freely builds on the same accessibility features that were added to Freeview Play. For example, channel 555 on both Freeview Play and Freely devices will send you to the Accessible TV guide.
You’ll have access to subtitles and audio description on Freely, just like on Freeview.
Why doesn’t Freely more clearly advertise that you can’t get all the channels if you’re wi-fi only?
Since launching, Freely’s website has started to make this much clearer. Ultimately, Freely is backed by the UK’s public service broadcasters (e.g. BBC, ITV). And all of their channels are delivered via streaming. So as far as they are concerned, the job’s done. The channels you’ll be missing are from third-party commercial channels, like Quest (WBD), Blaze (A+E Networks) or Talking Pictures.
However, wi-fi/ethernet mode may be more advantageous if you live in an area that only has limited Freeview coverage. For example, Freely via wi-fi offers Channel 5’s sister channels (e.g. 5ACTION, 5USA). These are not available in areas where the local relay transmitter only carries a small number of channels.
Does Freely work with a satellite dish?
The first Freely TVs now on sale are designed to work with aerial+wifi/ethernet only.
However, Everyone TV, the organisation responsible for delivering free TV in the UK says there will be future models that will support satellite reception. At this point, Freely will begin to replace Freesat.
Once satellite-enabled Freely devices hit the market, the same principle applies as above. If your TV can receive a satellite channel, but there’s a Freely stream of the channel available via the internet, it will opt for the internet version of the channel.
Is Freely future-proof?
In a nutshell, yes.
Freely is designed to allow broadcasters to seamlessly migrate viewers from Digital Terrestrial and satellite to digital streaming.
Ideally, you should be able to switch over from an internet delivered channel to a terrestrial or satellite delivered channel without noticing.
The context for the changes:
- Digital Satellite Television in the UK is currently only guaranteed until around 2030 at the latest and is dependent on Sky’s plans to migrate satellite viewers to its Stream service.
- Digital Terrestrial Television (Freeview) is expected to last until 2035, although it may not contain the same number of channels as it does today.
As first generation digital TV platforms come to an end, more channels will eventually become available via streaming only.
If you’re using a Freely TV with an aerial, as broadcasters make the switch, you shouldn’t notice a thing. Eventually you can unplug the aerial and still receive all the channels you want. If you use Freely solely via wi-fi/ethernet connection, you’ll gradually see an increase in the number of available channels.
In contrast, if you choose to buy an older Freeview Play model, this will work as normal for now. But as we head towards the end of the decade and into the 2030s, the number of channels you can watch is subject to decline as more channels drop terrestrial broadcasting in favour of going streaming only.
By: Marc Thornham | Image: Hisense/DTV Services Ltd