Freely, the free streaming service launched by the UK’s public service broadcasters (PSB), announced a slate of new content agreements this week. The partnerships bring content from AMC Networks International UK (AMCNI UK), PBS America, GB News and QVC to the CTV app.
Everyone TV, the PSB-owned joint venture that operates Freely, said the deals expand the total content offering on the streaming service to over 40 live channels, alongside 74,000 hours of on-demand content from 11 different content partners. The new content will arrive on Freely in early 2025, according to Everyone TV.
Live and on-demand
The AMCNI UK channels include Legend (formerly Horror Channel), True Crime (formerly CBS Reality), and AMC’s on-demand app, WATCH FREE UK. Meanwhile PBS America brings the US public network’s live channel and on-demand app to Freely. QVC adds two teleshopping channels, alongside the QVC+ app, while GB News will provide its live TV channel to the free streaming service.
The new content providers join the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, STV, S4C and UKTV on the platform, and Everyone TV said further content, smart TV and OS partners are still to be announced.
“These new collaborations mark a significant milestone as Freely continues to redefine the streaming experience, offering something for everyone, with content across a variety of genres,” said Everyone TV CEO Jonathan Thompson. “From groundbreaking storytelling to rich historical programming and an engaging shopping experience, we are excited to offer an increasingly competitive free viewing experience with these new channels and on demand players. We look forward to continued collaboration across the industry, bringing even more entertaining and engaging content to Freely.”
Beyond Freeview
Freely launched in April to much speculation around the nature of its content offering, whether the app would restrict viewing to the PSBs or look further afield to flesh out its library. This latest update suggests Everyone TV is looking to replicate the broad content experience of its Freeview Play service – except rather than redirecting users to individual broadcaster’s apps, Freely keeps viewers within the same interface, regardless of whose content they want to watch.
But even as the streaming app expands its content slate, Freely will seek to ensure the prominence of the PSBs on the electronic programming guide (EPG), aiming to recreate the linear TV experience and boost the channels’ reach in a CTV environment.
In October, Everyone TV struck a deal with Amazon to make Freely available on Amazon’s Fire TV platform, extending the service’s footprint in the UK. As well as Fire TV, Freely is available on Hisense, Bush, Toshiba, Sharp, TCL and Panasonic TVs. But the app remains unavailable through several TV manufacturers, such as Samsung, LG and Roku, which prioritise their own streaming platforms on their devices, making the EPG a key battleground for the year ahead.
