Meet Freely
The Next Generation Free TV Platform powered by UK Broadcasters
Welcome back to Streaming Made Easy (SME). I’m Marion & this is your 5-min read to get a European take on the Global Streaming Video Business.
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Hisense chose Teads to monetise its native display inventory. Expect ads on your home screen!
US giants Warner Bros Discovery, Fox and Disney just announced a joint venture to launch a sports streaming service in a move to mitigate the inevitable decline of their linear TV businesses and to better position them to compete with Big Tech and their thirst for sports rights.
UK broadcasters (BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5) are no strangers to joint ventures and their latest initiative brings us Freely.
Let’s find out more.
Today at a glance:
The Genesis
The Value Proposition
The Product
The Distribution
The Impact
The Genesis
Behind Freely, you have an organisation called Everyone TV (formerly known as Digital UK).
Everyone TV is owned and supported by the UK’s leading public service broadcasters – the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5.
It was created in 2002 to manage the switch over from analog to digital terrestrial TV.
Everyone TV is responsible for the day-to-day running of Free TV platforms – Freeview and Freesat – and now Freely.
Their mission: to champion Free TV for all.
Freeview started as a broadcast-only service delivered by antenna (100+ channels available) to later become an hybrid broadcast + online TV service (called Freeview Play).
Freeview Play brings on demand content from BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and UKTV under one roof.
You may have seen the logo in stores when you bought your TV or on platform when you started streaming.
Freeview Play is another entry point to broadcasters’ content available on web, mobile and TV. Each broadcaster still distributes its own service separately.
Freeview Play imposed itself as a must have for any TV platform operating in the UK.
I was at Roku when the company launched its first TVs in market and to do so, Roku had to go through a certification process to be Freeview Play ready.
Except for Samsung, all TVs sold in the UK are Freeview Play ready, a must if you want to be distributed in UK stores.
Freesat is the equivalent for satellite reception.
Why launch Freely then?
Usages are evolving and so Everyone TV must ensure the longevity of Free TV access no matter the distribution technology.
“Part of our remit is to lead free TV’s evolution for a digital age. (…) The expectation is that there will be greater use of IP as a distribution technology for free TV services in the years ahead, and that DTT and Digital Satellite – the technologies currently used to deliver Freeview and Freesat, respectively – are unlikely to remain the primary means to deliver free TV services for ever.”
Enters Freely, the Next Generation Platform.
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The Value Proposition
It’s Free TV (live and on demand) for all without the need for a dish or an antenna.
With 15% of broadband-only UK homes (a number likely to increase to 50% by 2030 according to FTI Delta analyst Garazi Goia), Freely ensures the availability and prominence of UK broadcasters in the streaming space.
Don’t be fooled, this will not be your typical streaming app.
Freely will be built into TV OS which means a deeper level of integration (similar to what TV OS providers had to do with Freeview Play).
They already announced that they would power an Interactive TV guide on 2024 Hisense TVs.
The Product
Freely is a HbbTV OpApp.
What in the name is this?
In layman’s terms, HbbTV (hybrid broadcast broadband TV) brings digital benefits to linear television.
“The HbbTV specification is developed by industry leaders to improve the video user experience for consumers by enabling innovative, interactive services over broadcast and broadband networks. This global initiative aims at harmonizing the broadcast and broadband delivery of entertainment services to consumers through connected TVs, set‐top boxes and multiscreen devices.”
Over 90% of Smart TV sold in Germany support the HbbTV standard according to the HbbTV Association.
On the feature side, it’s hard to gage the platform without trying it first but here is what was announced at the promo event this week:
MiniGuide: a pop-up interface that appears each time users switch channels
Restart, pause, access more functionalities
A TV Guide button
It looks clean and simple.
Content wise, Freely will offer live and on demand content from the 4 broadcasters and UKTV.
Freely could ultimately replace Freeview, Freeview Play and Freesat.
How about advertising?
Freely could become an opportunity for addressable TV advertising (which has seen limited adoption in the UK outside of Sky) at a time where TV OS providers build muscles to monetise their platform inventory and promote a personalised ad experience in comparison to traditional broadcast TV.
The Distribution
The launch date is set for Q2 2024 and the first two partners announced are Hisense and Vestel (who owns brands like Toshiba, Bush, JVC).
It’s no surprise to see Hisense as a launch partner given their aggressive global push to become n°1 globally.
Expect to see the Freely logo on remotes, on packaging and in stores.
More partners will be announced in the coming months.
I’m curious to see the actual implementation on Smart TVs and find out where Samsung stands on Freely (since they have never integrated Freeview Play and stick to carrying the individual apps).
The Impact
The UK is an outlier in the European Broadcasting landscape.
As mentioned above, they have been collaborating for the past twenty years to protect their prominence in the local audiovisual market.
They do so by pushing their agenda with policy making (the Media Bill should come into law mid-2024) AND by innovating with platforms like Freely.
No other European market managed to have this level of collaboration.
→ In Germany, ARD and ZDF teamed up last year for a combined platform but in the back-end it is still two technology stacks.
→ Joyn, a German Hulu like offering from commercial broadcaster ProSieben, built a solid line up of channels (incl. ARD and ZDF) but failed to attract RTL (the other commercial broadcaster).
→ French players TF1, M6 and France Televisions tried with Salto (which closed in March 2023), then went the merger route (M6+TF1) without success.
Today, TF1 is suing France Télévisions and the French Government for illegal state aid. Fun times.
→ Spain and Italy stakeholders operate separately as well.
→ Pan-European initiatives pop up here and there like the EBU (European Broadcasting Union) launching its Eurovision Sport platform to boost free public access to live sport across Europe.
On the regulatory front, local stakeholders have long demanded prominence on Connected TVs (on top of what they get in their distribution deals) but it delivered subpar results.
Case in point with the public value status created in Germany last year which is a simple corner within CTV platforms where 100+ services are listed.
A similar status was announced yesterday in France.
Regulation alone won’t be enough though. Building must have apps which CTV platforms can’t do without is expected too.
Working alone seems untenable long-term.
One must turn competitors into partners.
That’s it for today but before you go:
Enjoy your weekend and see you next Friday for another edition of Streaming Made Easy!
By night, I write Streaming Made Easy and on Linkedin.
By day, I run The Local Act, a streaming video consultancy catering to Streamers, Distribution Platforms and Technology Vendors.
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