BBC top boss has hinted that a Fire Stick rival loaded with free TV channels could launch in the future.
Public service broadcasters are battling to keep up with streaming giants like Netflix and Prime that have contributed towards a fall in traditional linear TV viewing habits.
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Freeview’s successor, Freely, was launched last year as a way for telly lovers to beam channels into homes via the internet instead of an aerial.
It also acts as a gateway to free streaming services like BBC iPlayer and ITVX all in one place.
So far Freely has only been made available in new TVs that you can buy, as opposed to a box or streaming stick that plugs into your existing set.
However, BBC Director-General Tim Davie has revealed that it could change.
“We have been working hard to build digital platforms and content to meet changing audience needs, enriching our offer and welcoming the possibilities of a post broadcast world,” he said during a speech at Salford’s Lowry Theatre.
“We want to double down on Freely as a universal free service to deliver live TV over broadband.
“And we are considering a streaming media device with Freely capabilities built in, with a radically simplified user interface specifically designed to help those yet to benefit from IP services.”
BBC, along with ITV, Channel 4 and 5 own Everyone TV, the company that operates Freeview, Freely and Freesat.
The Beeb boss also called for a national plan on the switch off of traditional broadcast transmissions in the 2030s.
“I talked a few years ago about my belief that we needed to own digital switchover, not get dragged, and proactively shape the future,” he said.
Some 18million homes are still using Freeview.
Amazon’s popular Fire Stick only recently gained BBC channels on its live TV tab.
But a Freely-inspired rival could make it even simpler for viewers.
A Government report found that 87 per cent of UK homes had an internet-enabled primary TV in 2023 while 17 per cent were dependent on the current digital terrestrial set-up.
However, it also predicts that around 1.5million homes could still rely on an aerial to watch TV by 2040 without intervention.
WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE BEFORE WE REPLACE FREEVIEW
Analysis by Jamie Harris, Assistant Technology and Science Editor at The Sun
DTT – digital terrestrial television – is the system used for Freeview broadcasts today.
About 18million homes still use it as their main way of watching TV.
Before we even begin to think about switching it off, we have to make sure no one is left behind.
So any internet-based alternative – Freely or otherwise – needs to be just as easy to install and use.
Then there’s the matter of broadband.
The UK needs to have reliable broadband everywhere so everyone has access.
Emphasis on reliable – no one wants buffering mid-way through a live football match.
So not only will broadband need to be pretty much everywhere it will need to be fast enough to handle demand all the time.
