David Farnor | On 11, Feb 2014

BBC, ITV and Channel 4 have joined forces to launch a new catch-up TV service for smart TVs: Freeview Connect.

The brand will make each broadcaster’s flagship on-demand service, BBC iPlayer, ITV Player and 4oD, available as standard on smart TVs.

The move appears to pit the broadcasters against YouView. It was recently reported that they may scale back their funding of the set-top box, which was intended to become the future standard of Freeview, amid some concerns that BT and TalkTalk were benefiting from the platform by increasing their subscriber numbers through free boxes.

While The Guardian has been quick to describe Freeview Connect as a response to the telecommunication companies’ “ideological hijacking” of YouView, though, the paper also notes, more pertinently, that the set-top box’s technology is not accepted as a European-wide standard and has suffered problems when rolled out to televisions from different manufacturers.

The Freeview Connect app, on the other hand, will be designed to introduce a universal experience that will work on all internet-connect smart TVs.

The initiative is spearheaded by Digital UK, an industry body funded by the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Arqiva – all of which were founders of YouView – and formed to ensure the continued universal availability of public service TV.

One source told The Guardian that the move “is not specifically anti-Sky” but that once it’s up and running, “there is no reason why companies such as BSkyB might not be involved”.

With smart TVs becoming increasingly common in UK homes – up to 3 million are expected to have one by the end of 2014 – it is important for broadcasters to be able to offer a compatible service, especially if public service broadcasting is to continue to be prominent in the on-demand era of viewing.

Add to Watchlist