BBC, ITV, C4 and C5 to launch joint streaming service - Printable Version
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RE: BBC, ITV, C4 and C5 to launch joint streaming service - thomalex - 22-12-2023
(15-12-2023, 10:31 AM)orange Wrote: I was looking for more news about it - came across this site (so not 100% if it’s accurate) that is saying Freely will be available on Smart TVs only… no Amazon Firestick or Roku support. What?!
https://www.cordbusters.co.uk/freeview-streaming-future-freely-tv-hisense/
Quite literally one of the things I was looking forward to was to have everything in one place on my Fire TV… My TV is a Samsung of around 6 or 7 years old and stopped connecting to the internet after it updated itself one fateful day. This is quite baffling?
Completely agree. I live in a house with no aerial and use a Fire Stick which works fine. One of the things I do miss about having an aerial is the TV Guide where you can just flick between different live channels. Now you have to go in and out of each app one by one, waiting for a bit each time, to see what's on and as a result you discover much less than I would do with linear TV.
One thing I was really looking forward to was there would be one app that would essentially recreate that linear TV experience but it sounds like I need a whole new TV to do so. Very disappointing and surely a substantial market that is being ignored.
RE: BBC, ITV, C4 and C5 to launch joint streaming service - Steve in Pudsey - 22-12-2023
ITV shows up on the EPG-like feature on my Fire stick so presumably the BBC and C4 haven't implemented something that they could?
RE: BBC, ITV, C4 and C5 to launch joint streaming service - XIII - 22-12-2023
I'm not sure why anyone is remotely shocked by Freely only being on Smart TVs, it's replacing Freeview Play.
RE: BBC, ITV, C4 and C5 to launch joint streaming service - radiorebel - 23-12-2023
(22-12-2023, 05:30 PM)XIII Wrote: I'm not sure why anyone is remotely shocked by Freely only being on Smart TVs, it's replacing Freeview Play.
I think it’s mostly the fact that they are only putting it on NEW Smart TVs, especially when there are millions of TVs out there capable of running the technology with a software update or app download. It is supposed to be an evolution of how we receive linear TV in response to the streaming market and the way a lot of people watch nowadays. Also I thought it was supposed to make Freeview more accessible not less. For example for myself I am in a Freeview lite area and this would be an upgrade, but I can’t afford to get a new TV just for that.
In regards to not being on streaming devices, you could understand why Freeview play isn’t available on them. They don’t have TV tuners or Aerial compatibility, for Freely however it would make sense for them to be on streaming devices. Also the argument against people outside of the UK being able to access it, it could be location services based and it is possible for apps to get around VPNs most just choose not too.
RE: BBC, ITV, C4 and C5 to launch joint streaming service - interestednovice - 23-12-2023
I see your point.
To be honest, the almost inevitability of this happening is what has kept me from upgrading my own TV. I live in a “full Freeview” (6 muxes plus local mux) area and have a great TV but it’s old now. It’s a plasma 1080p screen, so not 4K, and no smart features - but it has amazing colours and built-in Freeview HD. I was very careful to buy a T2 tuner model right at the beginning, so got the TV in 2010. But I would like a smart TV. However, I’ve been waiting for the next proper future-proof upgrade.
The proper upgrade being Freeview over the internet - with more channels in HD, and smart features integrated into the EPG, etc, rather than merely as apps - is what is coming with Freely.
So my next TV will probably be a Freely 4K model, probably also a bit larger than the current one. But for normal TV viewing in the meantime, I am just supplementing the “dumb” TV with set top boxes.
There is no reason Freely couldn’t exist as an app too but it would be a big like running a virtual machine on a PC - an EPG within an app, different from the normal EPG, etc.
Maybe they’ve decided that would be too complicated and result in customer confusion.
RE: BBC, ITV, C4 and C5 to launch joint streaming service - orange - 23-12-2023
(23-12-2023, 05:43 AM)radiorebel Wrote: I think it’s mostly the fact that they are only putting it on NEW Smart TVs, especially when there are millions of TVs out there capable of running the technology with a software update or app download. It is supposed to be an evolution of how we receive linear TV in response to the streaming market and the way a lot of people watch nowadays. Also I thought it was supposed to make Freeview more accessible not less. For example for myself I am in a Freeview lite area and this would be an upgrade, but I can’t afford to get a new TV just for that.
In regards to not being on streaming devices, you could understand why Freeview play isn’t available on them. They don’t have TV tuners or Aerial compatibility, for Freely however it would make sense for them to be on streaming devices. Also the argument against people outside of the UK being able to access it, it could be location services based and it is possible for apps to get around VPNs most just choose not too.
Thank you for this - this summarises it all quite neatly.
RE: BBC, ITV, C4 and C5 to launch joint streaming service - Brekkie - 23-12-2023
(23-12-2023, 05:43 AM)radiorebel Wrote: I think it’s mostly the fact that they are only putting it on NEW Smart TVs, especially when there are millions of TVs out there capable of running the technology with a software update or app download. It is supposed to be an evolution of how we receive linear TV in response to the streaming market and the way a lot of people watch nowadays. Also I thought it was supposed to make Freeview more accessible not less. For example for myself I am in a Freeview lite area and this would be an upgrade, but I can’t afford to get a new TV just for that.
In regards to not being on streaming devices, you could understand why Freeview play isn’t available on them. They don’t have TV tuners or Aerial compatibility, for Freely however it would make sense for them to be on streaming devices. Also the argument against people outside of the UK being able to access it, it could be location services based and it is possible for apps to get around VPNs most just choose not too.
These rollouts don't happen overnight though - it's quite common for such things to launch first on a couple of new products and then potentially be rolled out to more models and existing devices - iPlayer took years to be rolled out for example. But then you have the likes of ITVX who rolled out a new version of their player which doesn't work on even relatively new devices, which frankly is inexcusable.
RE: BBC, ITV, C4 and C5 to launch joint streaming service - interestednovice - 23-12-2023
(23-12-2023, 04:17 PM)Brekkie Wrote: These rollouts don't happen overnight though - it's quite common for such things to launch first on a couple of new products and then potentially be rolled out to more models and existing devices - iPlayer took years to be rolled out for example. But then you have the likes of ITVX who rolled out a new version of their player which doesn't work on even relatively new devices, which frankly is inexcusable.
That’s a good point.
They may want to test things out with partner Smart TV manufacturers first, before potentially rolling out Freely boxes and apps to existing devices later once they’ve ironed out any bugs.
It’s easier to test when you are launching new hardware & software in a new, integrated product.
Other versions may come later.
RE: BBC, ITV, C4 and C5 to launch joint streaming service - cable - 11-01-2024
So set top boxes will come. satellite support will come eventually but will launch as a hybrid DTT/Internet service. https://rxtvinfo.com/2024/all-in-one-tv-how-freeview-replacement-freely-will-work/
https://www.cordbusters.co.uk/freely-reshaping-freeview-freesat-epg/
RE: BBC, ITV, C4 and C5 to launch joint streaming service - rick - 11-01-2024
So the EPG will be ordered according to popularity? So we're going to see even more of a mess of a channel list than we do currently. I hope there's a favourite option so you can at least order the channels how YOU want them, not what the country as a whole deems more interesting to watch. Channels 6 and 7 are "allocated according to reach and pairing" (why?) and 8 and 9 are for local channels, and 31 is a "promo channel" slot (however that is going to work) as are channels 90-99. So essentially, two channels potentially can jump ahead of BBC 3 at 10 which is the start of the channels outside of the main five.
I think they have missed an opportunity to create a proper EPG that caters for all the existing channels, leaves them room to expand if they choose to, and puts all broadcasters channels together for ease of navigation. The only real positive I can see from this so far is that +1's now have their own section, as do the shopping channels. But with channels only being in some regions and getting high prominence, it means we'll have the top of the EPG being 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 13 for most people and the gaps just look silly on a new service. Local TV is a dead duck, and I think a separate section for regional/local TV should have been included to house these channels, so 6 onwards on the guide can be used for the popular channels.