[Keith]

As for internet costs - many ISPs provide a so called 'social tariff', BT in particular has done so for a long time. It's like £10 or £15 a month for a service that can already support all the streaming you'd ever want to do.

Going slightly off-topic it'll be interesting to see what landline providers do in the next few years. Openreach has stopped selling analogue phone lines to new customers earlier this month, and will be switching off the analogue phoneline by the end of December 2025.

I wonder if in the long term landline providers may end up providing a free basic 10 Mbit/s broadband service, designed to allow phones and limited streaming TV services (paid for via general taxation).

[eyeTV]

Project Kangaroo should have been allowed back in 2009.

It would have put the PSB's at the forefront of the streaming revolution, instead it let the global players in without regulation and allowed them to dominate.

[Brekkie]

I guess that is why it should get through any regulatory hurdles this time though better framing it as a Freeview/Freesat move rather than a BBC/ITV/C4/C5 move.

It's essentially mimicking what Sky are doing with Sky Glass.

[Milkshake]

So would this replace Iplayer, ITVX, Channel 4 All 5 and Britbox?

[Brekkie]

So would this replace Iplayer, ITVX, Channel 4 All 5 and Britbox?

No - it's more about streaming the channels in one place than combining their on demand content. The separate players will then exist within it.

[Technologist]

I guess that is why it should get through any regulatory hurdles this time though better framing it as a Freeview/Freesat move rather than a BBC/ITV/C4/C5 move.   

It may be but I had issues  with what appeared to be a third party aggregation 
Which was going to be referred because if the commonality of intent and common operation
due to,the very very wide remit of the Kangaroo decision …..
but there is more public policy/ political will this time …

As I see it …it will be a DVB-I (or like it) but it really needs a single sign on
To access all the broadcasters apps …
and the platform supporting channels just in hbbtv
tech.ebu.ch 

DVB-I, the basis of future TV-services? | EBU Technology & Innovation
The DVB-I specification has been tested in pilots of different EBU Members. This…
  Source: tech.ebu.ch

[orange]

Finally - there used to be a bit of a solution when TVplayer was around but that’s now something else entirely.

[F4C]

So would this replace Iplayer, ITVX, Channel 4 All 5 and Britbox?

No. This is basically Freeview but over the internet and IPTV, rather than nearby transmitters. Gives them a first stab at a full IPTV service in preparation for when the Government inevitably pulls the plug on terrestrial TV transmission to make way for 6G or whatever we end up with by then. 

Obvious benefits- every channel SHOULD be available in HD minimum; better integration with iPlayer, Channel 4 Online and ITVX; possibly more channels. I suspect a postcode or pick-your-region system will be implemented for regional variants and to shove S4C on EPG slot 4 in Wales. 

Obvious issue is internet coverage in rural areas is hit-and-miss, although this should be ironed out well before the Government pull the plug on the transmitters.

---

Project Kangaroo should have been allowed back in 2009.

It would have put the PSB's at the forefront of the streaming revolution, instead it let the global players in without regulation and allowed them to dominate.

It didn’t make a whole lot of sense at the time and you could argue it denied the UK the one real chance at producing something half-capable of taking on Netflix and co. Together with Ofcom taking an eternity in regulating said services, it’s permanently put the UK on the backfoot. 

I know iPlayer, Channel 4 Online and ITVX are popular and generally good services, but Kangaroo was a massive, massive, MASSIVE missed opportunity.

[Allanbuzzy]

Finally - there used to be a bit of a solution when TVplayer was around but that’s now something else entirely.

It's sad to see TVPlayer become less of a decent Freeview alternative and more of a paid BTEC Pluto TV, as none of the channels listed on their page I have even heard of, or even know their ownership. It's a radically different service and not in a good way.

Actually reminds me of another website, TVCatchUp, which did offer the same, if not more channels like TVPlayer, but it too fell behind, went under administration. 

I think an app like Freely, given it's ownership with Freeview/Freesat, will at least guarantee the UK is up to speed with what other countries have implemented, what with their own streaming platforms that offer the same content through the internet. Just a shame it took nearly a decade to get there though.

[Newshound47]

No. This is basically Freeview but over the internet and IPTV, rather than nearby transmitters. Gives them a first stab at a full IPTV service in preparation for when the Government inevitably pulls the plug on terrestrial TV transmission to make way for 6G or whatever we end up with by then. 

Obvious benefits- every channel SHOULD be available in HD minimum; better integration with iPlayer, Channel 4 Online and ITVX; possibly more channels. I suspect a postcode or pick-your-region system will be implemented for regional variants and to shove S4C on EPG slot 4 in Wales. 

Obvious issue is internet coverage in rural areas is hit-and-miss, although this should be ironed out well before the Government pull the plug on the transmitters.

---

It didn’t make a whole lot of sense at the time and you could argue it denied the UK the one real chance at producing something half-capable of taking on Netflix and co. Together with Ofcom taking an eternity in regulating said services, it’s permanently put the UK on the backfoot. 

I know iPlayer, Channel 4 Online and ITVX are popular and generally good services, but Kangaroo was a massive, massive, MASSIVE missed opportunity.

It’s estimated to take another ten years or more  to get Wifi speeds across the country to all be fast enough for streaming to work in every house.