In case you hadn’t heard, Freely is a new live and on-demand streaming service coming from the same people behind Freeview and Freesat, and it’s just announced which TV brand it’s partnering with.
If you’ve read the headline you’ll know its Hisense, who will be the first smart TV partner for the service, signing up on a five-year contract.
Freely is the new service that allows UK households to stream live TV channels alongside on-demand content “for the first time” and for free through smart TVs, removing the need to connect to a satellite dish or aerial.
The service was first announced back in September 2023, and is a collaboration between the BBC, ITV, Channel and Channel 5 that puts free TV front and centre of the streaming experience. It sounds very much like what EE TV is doing with their new TV service and set-top box options.
The aim is to make the experience as seamless as possible, allowing users to browse channels through the TV guide as well as explore and find TV series to watch through live TV and on-demand libraries. Hisense will incorporate the Freely brand across their 2024 TV range, as well as on their remotes and packaging.
Deep Halder, Chief Commercial Officer, Everyone TV said: “We’re delighted that Hisense is partnering with us to bring Freely to market in the UK. Building on our long history of working together successfully, we are excited to be bringing the first free aggregated live and on demand TV experience to British viewers, built into Hisense’s next-gen Smart TVs. We look forward to announcing further partners ahead of launch to ensure Freely will be available on a wide range of TVs at differing price points, offering viewers the choice to future-proof their TV purchase.”
Howard Grindrod, Vice President, Hisense UK, said: “We’re proud to be leading the way and becoming the first TV manufacturers to bring Freely to the UK market. We’re always looking to enhance our product offering and find new ways to add value to our consumers, and this partnership with Freely does just that.”
More details about when Freely will launch and additional smart TV partners will be announced in 2024.
