Viewers who own a device that supports streaming TV platform Freely can now access three new services from Channel 4.
- 4Reality, 4Homes and 4Life now streaming
Channel 4 has officially launched three new streaming-only channels—4Reality, 4Homes, and 4Life—on the Freely TV platform. The channels are now available on Freely-enabled televisions via channels 67, 68, and 82.
After previously trailing a Married At First Sight streaming channel on its app, these additions mark Channel 4’s full entry into the growing market of FAST (Free Ad-Supported Television) channels, which deliver curated content without subscription fees.
FAST channels typically repurpose existing programming, allowing broadcasters to reduce production and distribution costs while monetising through targeted advertising.
The move aligns with Channel 4’s broader strategy to scale back on spending on traditional linear offerings in favour of boosting its streaming output via internet-based platforms.
What’s on the new channels?
- 4Reality (Channel 67): Features popular reality series including Married At First Sight, Naked Attraction, and First Dates.
- 4Homes (Channel 68): Showcases home and design programmes such as A Place In The Sun, Location, Location, Location, and Grand Designs.
- 4Life (Channel 82): The home of lifestyle content, including travel, food, and animals, with programmes like Travel Man and The Dog House.
Can I watch these channels elsewhere?
At the moment, these are exclusive to Freely. With good reason: Channel 4 is one of the backers of the organisation that operates Freely. Channel 4 and other public broadcasters want to use extra channels like these as a carrot to encourage more users to switch to streaming TV platforms.
However, it’s true that all of the programmes carried on each of the new channels can be watched on-demand on Channel 4 Streaming.
What is Freely?
Freely is new platform designed to replace Freeview. The broadcasters behind Freeview and Freely want to drop traditional and expensive terrestrial TV broadcasts by the middle of next decade in favour of going streaming-only.
Most budget-range TVs now include Freely. However, Freely hasn’t yet broken through to some of the more premium brands.
Freely is built in as a HbbTV OpApp on compatible devices, meaning it takes over the native look and feel of your TV and controls how TV channels are received. If you disable Freely or are not connected to the internet for a longer period of time, the TV will revert back to a basic Freeview TV.
If you have a Freely TV connected to both an aerial and the internet, it will choose the internet version over the terrestrial version received through your aerial. However, you’ll still need to be plugged into an aerial to receive all channels in your area.
If you have a Freely TV connected to the internet only, you’ll currently be able to access just over 50 channels. That list includes all the main public broadcasters (BBC, ITV, Channel 4, 5, S4C) and their offshoot channels. But the list is growing, with a number of other broadcasters now streaming with Freely.
By: Marc Thornham | Img: Freely promo